GTX 460 & 470

well a 470 is faster than a 460, but a 460 can overclock pretty high and almost reach a 470 stock in performance. however if you are really gonna overclock and overclocked and unlocked 470 can go beyond the performance of a oc 460

bacially either card will do almost all games on the market today at max setting at up to a 1920x1080 res... but if going for a higher res like 2560x1600 then i'd go 470

I don't usually overclock so stock comparison would be better for me.My aim would be max settings at HD resolution like you said.

at stock settings on 1920 x 1080 a 460 should run most everything out at max settings.

some very heavy games like metro might need medium-high settings but only a handful of titles, if thats your goal the 460 woudl be fine now and for a year or so. the 470 would probabyl give ya 2 years of future proofing at maxsettings at 1920x1080 res for said period of time

The ATI gtx 460 would be the hd6850 and the ATI gtx 470 would be closer to a hd6870.