I plan to buy either the ATI 4870 or Nvidia 280GTX. Price is not a factor here. Could you please let me know:  
 
1. Which card is better for running OpenGL related applications?
2. Which card is better for 3D animations/real time manipulations of 3D objects,  
    CAD, movie making, etc?
3. I know that the 280GTX does not support DirectX 10.1. Will there be a problem?
4. Which card is quiet? I used to use a Quadro FX at work. It was very noisy.  
5. How is the noise level of 280GTX compared with 260GTX?
6. Which manufacturer do you recommend (MSI or ASUS)?
7. Which card comes with better drivers for Windows VISTA 64-bit and linux?
    I cannot find any driver for the 4870 in ATI's website.
 
Thanks.