Here's Tom's Hardware's (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/05/14/r600_finally_dx10_hardware_from_ati/) and Anandtech's (http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2988&p=1) reviews of the long-awaited ATI HD 2900XT.

It seems like forever since NVIDIA's G80 was released, and after delay upon delay ATI's answer is finally here.

So it's no 8800GTX killer. So what? It should compete very well with the 8800GTS, which is at the price point I'm considering, so I at least have a choice now.

Keep in mind that the drivers from both camps are immature (esp ATI's) and no one really knows how either will perform in a DX10 game, so at the $400.00 price point, it's still anyone's game.

Let the price-wars begin!:D

and don't forget that ATI put a bunch of features into the R600 as well. if you're looking for longevity (points to self), the support for extra features on the R600 makes it a more attractive option than the 8800 GTX.

at least i've finally made up my mind on the build, now. i'll be going for the HD2900XT for my system build. now to wait for them to become available....

Since the video card should be the last major component that anyone should buy when building a system, you might be able to hold off until ATI launches the 65nm revision of this GPU, which should improve it's power consumption, which is my only real gripe about this card.

And you're right: it's absolutely feature-laden. The full HD decode acceleration is particularly nice and will help to sell this card.

Nice info Q :)

lolz...yes I am abiased old fool....but I'd love a 8800GTX more than any ATI card. Even in Vista, I am still not a catalyst fan..... all that great R&D on new tech..... you'd think theyd put more thought into a intuitive, less bloated interface for their catalyst control center. I dread when clients turn up with the ATI cards........ bleh... why did AMD shack up with them.......... why o why !! [/melodramatic]

mtfbwya