I would rather spend my money on lower mag., dependable and clear glass than lower quality, higher mag. glass. I would take this scope over the one you cited:
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/vortex.pl?page=vortexviper3-9x40

I routinely shoot milk jugs and 8" party balloons out to 800 yards, and I use nothing but 3-9x40 scopes. My longest shot on flesh to date was a coyote at 942 yards. Took 1 shot on 9x to seal the deal. If you're using a bright scope with high resolution, you can fore go a lot of X's and still see the target just fine.