Got $300 which video card

Well I'm going with the new i7 setup so I need to keep it budgeted around $1500 total with $300 for a video card(s). I'm looking at the following setups to go with a Asus P6T Deluxe, Intel i7 920, 6 gigs of Gskill DDR 3 1600, 1 TB WD etc. I was thinking of going with 2 4850's in xfire, single 4870 or a GTX 260. This is where I need your help. I will be playing Far Cry 2, Crysis etc. Any input would be appreciated, I'm even considering dropping down to a P45 chipset so maybe I can get a 4870X2 or a GTX 280 if you guys think that would be more practical. Thanks

I was thinking the exact same thing but the i7 sounds so appealing at the moment. Let's just say I stick with the i7 do you think two 4850's in xfire would be alright? I don't want to hear about bottlenecking and all that stuff, I'm just looking for the best performance right now for $300 or less! Thanks people!

i would go gtx 260 core 216. better than hd4870 and gtx 280 stock, or at least practically was good as 280 stock. Im not sure if it beats the 4850 crossfire though

When Phenom was about to release they said it was gonna be a beast,but who really still care about what they say anymore now,you know there is a difference bewteen how they "sound" and actually performance,Intel has been solid over the years,amd lost it reputations badly,just a bit too hard to make anyone believe plus there's absolutely no offical reviews,all were made up by some amd fan sites,you really trust what those say?

1+ on the Evga recertified.

Wow, the performance is perfectly similar and it is over $100 cheaper... yep I'm a fanboy, my 4870 X2 just proves how much of a fanboy I am of nVidia....

Yeah, I know Far Cry 2 looks SOO much better on my 4870 X2 than 3 GTX 280s! (E-Sarcasm) DX 10.1 is going to be useless until the next generations which are rumored to be DX11 compatible. DX10.1 is nice, and if we were comparing 2 almost identical setups, like a GTX 260 and a 4870 I would definitely weigh DX10.1 into considerations, but the difference between 2 easily overclocked 8800 GTS 512s and 2 4850s moderately overclocked and hot as hell, well that's not a performance difference, the difference is the price and the 8800 GTS 512s win easy.