a-5 is a nice one because of the cyclone feeder, gravity fed hopper should not have been invented.  a-5 and x-7 would be a good choice because you could swap out barrels between them. the 98 has different barrel threads. i wish i had a bought an a-5 instead of 98, but ive never fired an a-5 yet.  the x-7 LOOKS cool, but does that matter to you, or do u just want to put some paint on ur buddies??

gotta justify the price

Mack wrote: Mr.Awesome wrote: . . . gravity fed hopper should not have been invented. Wow.  Some people should think before they post.  The gravity fed hopper was a natural step in the evolution of paintball.  Not only was it the natural step between stick-feeds and today's hoppers, the first ones also provided a serious firepower advantage by tripling the ammo capacity of the early markers from 15 or so rounds up to 45 or 50.  When gravity fed hoppers first appeared they were more than sufficient for the rate of fire that the pump-action markers of the time were capable of.  Furthermore, the technology for today's hoppers in many cases didn't exist yet at that time.

Also to add to this with such gravity hoppers as the Arc Hopper on a blowback gun can be fed at 8+bps and no jam ups.  That is more than enough for many paintball guns out there including my procarbine and, while it is not a blowback, my trilogy.  It never stops and I never need batteries

Onto the true question at hand though.  Really most tippmanns are very similar internally.  There are differences but they will rect similarly performance wise.  That being said if you want something that will put down a good amount of fire power without needing modification the A5 with an egrip is a good choice.  It is internally very very similar to the x7 and both have the cyclone.  the x7 clims that it feeds 2 bps faster than the A5 but thats not really enough to spend alot more in my book.  Now if you like the looks of the X7 more and are into milsim then that is the way to go out of those 2.  You will spend alot more to make and A5 look milsim than the already milsim X7.  Another to look at if you like the milsim is the Alpha Black Tactical.  It is a 98 in milsim clothes.  You can add the cyclone to that as well and if you get the egripped vesrin you will have a fast gun that will keep up just fine.  Remember, while you can feed more bps it isnt always necessary. 

I have used both the 98 and A5 and loved them both.  From personal experience I did not like the X7 feel as much for some reason.  I did like the ABT feel though.  Whichever you choose go hold them first.  Pick the one that FEELS best in your hands.  You can always modify one to look how you want but if it doesnt feel right you will never be happy with it.