dannyaa :
It's not about brand loyalty
Sure seems like it.
But all I know is, nvidia has historically had greater market dominance
Even when they had poorer cards, because people like you are stuck on brand, not performance/utility.
and excellent drivers and support all across the board.
That was then, this is now, and recently there's little difference between the two overall in that area.
I wonder if Nvidia would be the better choice because its overall market share/dominance,
Sure because sellng a ton of GF9300 & 9500 cards matters to your segment choice, right?
It would matter if ATi's install base were as small as S3's, but it's not, and it's not like the FX and GF6800 series where developers had to code for the differences more than the similarities. If left to coding to the default, they'll be fine.
compatibility/drivers, CUDA, etc.
Drivers are a non-issue, and CUDA is something few people need, and those that do know specifically why they do. To most other people it's a Buzz word they heard from someone else, and they mistake the end products with the tool.
I usually stick with a card for a long time (hence I am just upgrading from a 7800gt that I bought nearly 3 years ago).
So you think for the games launched in 2010 and 2011 that the GTX260 will keep pace with the HD4870? Interesting theory.
I also do a lot of video editing on my system...
Which winds up a moot point, both do that very well.
As for the evga step up program, I would be buying the card mid September... about a month from today... when new games start showing up...
What like FarCry2, Warhead, and Fallout3? Unknowns, where the last two's base engine favour the HD4870 right now when you crank settings.
The Step-up program is a good idea, but if the refreshers are as succesful as you're hoping, then they will also cost more, so it's won't be a free upgrade in that case, although it is nice to have the flexability.
so I'd have until mid December if nvidia refreshed the lineup with a die shrink, gddr5, and dx10.1 ....
First of all, not DX10.1, just isn't going to happen, it's a significant redesign for nV, it's not like Ati's tweak to their architecture in the HD2K-3K jump.
GDDR5 is possible, but it likely wouldn't be riding a 448bit memory interface in that case. As for the die shrink it's going to be about yield improvement on the GTX260 replacement, not a huge speed bump, the GTX280's replacement will get the large speed bump.
if they didn't, no biggee, I'd probably end up with a Larabee chip in a year or so anyways,
Interesting how that goes against your "I'm in it for the long haul" statement a few lines up.
Going to Larrabee's not a limitation to either, but your affinity for this unknown but your resistance to a known quantity makes me wonder what the point of this thread was in the first place?