Personally, I don't know what the big deal about DRM is, as I've NEVER had a problem with any of the games that I own that use DRM. Nor have any of my friends. The bulk of people who have issues with DRM are those who are not willing to buy games for their value, but instead go and download the game to "try" it, but then never actually go and buy it...or maybe I'm just biased...
Now I'm stuck. After reading more than a few reviews on the GTX 280, I'm wondering if it's not the better choice. The main reason is that despite the recent release of the 4870 X2, ATI still hasn't released drivers that have that video card working at full turn. It's one thing that Nvidia doesn't mess up on. New video card gets released, new drivers get put out. As far as I can see it, here are the pros on each video card (I don't write cons because it'll spark debate, and that's the last thing anyone wants: ATI 4870 X2: -> 2GB shared memory between... -> ...2 GPUs. -> GDDR5 memory -> Recent benchmarks show it's 20-40 percent better than the GTX 280 (and about 40-50 percent better than the 9800 GX2) Nvidia GTX 280 -> Built in PhyX processor -> CUDA -> SLI is far more capable than Crossfire is (or has ever been) -> Drivers are current and released fairly frequently Now, I say this with the following thought: whatever I get will be a vast improvement from what I have now (XFX XXX Geforce 8800 GTX), and it's not the only thing I'll have to upgrade. But, considering which option I choose, the other component that's going to get upgraded will depend on the video card I choose (yes, it's the Motherboard, for those who guessed it. It's either the Asus Rampage Formula (for the ATI) or the Asus Striker II Forumula (for the Nvidia)). Any feedback would be good. I'm stuck on this one right now.
Been an Nvidia fan for a long time, but this video card has definitely earned my respect. Despite Gamespot's EXTREMELY biased benchmarks, I'm still planning on getting one of these monsters. Based on what I've seen thus far, it's a massive improvement from my 8800 GTX. For those who care to see some HONEST reviews (i.e. ones that actually test the card instead of pretending to), try these websites: -> http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=607&pageid=1 -> http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/08/13/amd-ati-radeon-hd-4870-x2/1 -> http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/hd4870x2/ -> http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/video/palit-4870x2/index.shtml -> http://techgage.com/article/palit_radeon_hd_4870_x2_1gb_-_amd_reclaims_gpu_supremacy/1 -> http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4097738&CatId=2306 I will remark that these are reviews that I read to make my decision. Tiger Direct's video review kinda cemented it in, at least for me.
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