The 9600gt is a little bit slower then the 8800GT(s). There is nothing even close to the 8800GTS in the price range. If you want something better, your talking about a SLI rig then, or a 8800Ultra.
But the 9600GT is a very good card. That's what I'm running, and it has no problems maxing out games. Crysis would be the exception of course.
As far as CPU's go. Nothing AMD's got will touch that Wolfdale, unless your talking about a Phenom or something. It's the 45nm Core for Intel, so it uses very little power. V-core runs about 1.2v on those chips, and they are smoking fast! In benchs they keep up with the Q6600.
If your wanting to knock some off the price, switch the
9600GT. Drop the mobo down from the 750 chipset to a
P35 chipset. And between those 2 you'll save about $120-$140. That's the bare minimum I would put into a new gaming rig.