HD4870X2 or GTX280 ??

The ATI 4870x2 slaughters the GTX280. Also it's got support for DX10.1 and GDDR5. Performance wise the 4870x2 is better and since the release of the new drivers it's great.

Physx is a physics processing engine, it will only change the visuals of certain items (waving flags, particle emiters, etc...) in a very small group of games. I have the 4870x2 and love it, it gets my recommendation.

Both cards annihilate all but my vote goes to the x2.

+1 4870×2, have seen cases where the X2 is 80 percent faster. Extreme high resolutions performer with free AA you can't go wrong.

ATI does not have physx, physx is a proprietary tech which at this moment in time reqires a compatible hardware device to run it unless only in software mode which then a cpu can.

The only hardware devices that can run it are an ageia physx card or a 8 series and above nvidia gfx card.

However, at this point in time it is as useless as when it first came out. Which is completely IMO.

the 4870 X2 is generally up to 30% faster than the 280 GTX. It all depends if you want to go dual GPU or single.

If you have Nvidia chipset and you can find the 280 GTX cheap, its a good choice.

The only time I've seen the 4870 X2 be more than 30% faster is with GRID, and thats it.

The 4870 X2s min frame rate is still lower than the 280 GTX in a lot of games, which can really piss me off because it is a very powerful card.

I would wait for the 295 GTX, since it will lower prices and its only a couple of weeks away.

If you really must, and you can't find the 280 GTX for around 350$ than the 4870 X2 is your best bet.

I agree with Liquid, see what the nV 55nm launches (including the GTX 295) do to prices overall, and the GTX295 gives you the option to either go with that or get an X2 for cheaper than now.

Usually I say don't wait, but that's when it's weeks or months, for the new cards they are days away and even if you don't like them, they should affect the prices of others, so it's worth a few days' wait.

Don't know, but it's unlikely for such a limited edition part to begin with (same goes for Canada and we're right next door).

It really depends on how nVidia decides to distribute the product. If it's a wide distribution like the GF9800GX2 then maybe you'll see it a week or so afterwards, but if it's like the GF7900/7950GX2 then it may never reach you at anywhere near MSRP let alone in reasonable time.

US date, as for the rest of the world, it's a wait and see. Remember this is likely a limited edition niche part despite being priced where the GTX280 were lowered to.

Its all about the pixels man. My 19" is 1440x900. Which is a relatively low resolution actually. My 4850 can handle that with every setting at high in every game I play. You having either one of those cards is almost a waste on a 19". You will like what you see, but you probably will want a bigger monitor to really take advantage of their power

This next topics has been merged by TheGreatGrapeApe

• HD4870x2 and GTX280