Ok, i am going to say that i lean a strong way towards ATI, and i have in the past. But i want to see what else is out there, I do not know much about what Nvidia is doing. I am planning to get the HD 5870, but i wanted to know is there something else that is better out there, and i do not want to pay more then $400. So just through around some tips and what not, i would really appreciate it. Thought to myself maybe i will give Nvidia a chance again.
Get the best you can afford at this time. At the moment its ATI with its 5870, but Nvidia should be coming out with something sometime over christmas if you want to wait for them.
I would wait until Nvidia releases their cards. Then the price wars will start, which means you will be getting the cards cheaper than they are now. But from what I heard Nvidia won't be releasing their Fermi based cards until February. So it depends on if you want to wait.
GT300 should come out around Xmas. Nvidia do what they can, so ATi wont get Xmas for themself ;)
The "GTX360" will be about $399, and we typically know from Nvidia (and from the specs.), it's gonna be a HD58** kickass product!
If you can't wait, stick with ATi.
Also, 2x GTX260 Core 216 can easily outperform HD5870, both in performance and price.
Im trying to avoid Crossfire or SLI, due to the fact that my expansion slots are X16 with one card but when two go in it is throttle down to X8 each. I have an Asus P5Q pro.