5850 Vs. 6870 Vs. 560 Vs. 560 Ti

Although a 6950 2GB does win (only by a little) against a GTX 560Ti, right now the GTX 560Ti can be found for a much better deal at $190 after a $40 rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
$185 Open Box with 3 year warranty (no rebates required)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
or $210 after a $20 rebate

The cheapest Radeon 6950 2GB is $233 after $30 rebate, last I saw .
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

These prices just jumped down today. Considering how badly a GTX 560Ti beats a 5850, you have to at least consider this card. I'd say to go with the 5850 if it was still the $140 no rebates it was two weeks ago, but it's not.

The Radeon 6870 at $168 lowest isn't cheap enough to compare it to the $190 GTX 560Ti

Considering the GTX 560 is $190, I can't recommend that over any GTX 560Ti. What about the 6950 1gb?

EDIT: If you aren't willing to install MSI Afterburner (w/ Kombustor) and overclock yourself, it's worth $20 for higher clocks out of the box.

I'd get the Galaxy. All of them are the same shot in the dark as far as overclocking, but there's the question of why was that Asus returned? OC'ing between the same GPUs is mostly determined by luck (and cooling).

What about the 6950 1gb. Is it better?

The 6950 1GB is intended to compete with the GTX 560Ti. It's a tough call between the two, see some benchmarks: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/331?vs=330

The GTX 560Ti is supposed to be beastly in overclocking, btw (like the GTX 460). I haven't heard the same about the Radeons.

Considering the cheapest 1GB I could find on Newegg was $210 (after rebate), I'd save $20 and get the 560Ti that will probably beat it handily after overclocking or get a 6950 2GB for $233 that's supposed to unlock (some do, some don't)

This Geil memory's better for the same price: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Same speed, lower latency. But like I said, you should keep an eye on deal sites (like slickdeals) and try to find some 4GB kit for $25 after rebate.

The Antec 300 Illusion is a steal for $55 free shipping. However, it's more than you need for a Micro ATX board. I would buy this case if I were planning for a full ATX board like the Gigabyte.

EDIT: I got this confused with another thread.