well im using 7.9 on my AGP X800XT PE which i think is from the family of the 9800 (i think) im having no problems with it at all i even find it runs better then the 7.8 drivers.
i also play ETQW but only on medium settings still no troubles as of yet.
My system:
AMD3000+ (OC-1.98ghz)
2gig ddr run in dual mode
X800XT PE 256mb DDR3
A8V motherboard
pretty old machine too i am upgrading to intel quad at end of the yr