Reading these specs for the nVidia 480GTX, kinda jaw dropping. Not the actual performance, that is expected, but stuff like GPU temp. It worries me when a GPU is rated to work at 90degrees celcius standard. My brother who owns a computer store finally got a bunch of these in, almost burnt his hand having it near the exhaust of the card.
What do you think about the 480GTX? It's power requirements? On ATI's side, they say the 5980 is equivalent in terms of performance with the new 480. Don't know how stable it is though.
 
I've been with nvidia since the first geforce came out in 1999, maybe it's time to switch to the cheaper and more cutting edge ATI cards. I guess I'll wait till september that's usually when the new cards come out.

I don't think it would be good to switch entirely to ATi, but maybe at least until nVidia revise the 400 series. 
 
Right now, the 5870 is the best card on the market with all things considered.

Power and Temp requirements are relatively high. Whether or not that proves to be a problem depends on the user, personally I don't mind high temps or wattage as long as I can get the performance I want. 
 
On average the GTX 480 outperforms the HD 5870 by about 15%, but uses proportionally much more power to do so. 
 
As always, consider price, performance and features. Whichever appeals to you more in those regards is the one to use.

The 480GTX is NVIDIA's way of saying to ATI, "Our dick is way bigger than your dick." Sure, it's cool in terms of specs, but do you honestly want something that hot and that power-hungry inside your house, specifically in your room? I heard somewhere that it adds a dozen bucks to your electricity bill alone.

Price? 5870 / 5890 is better 
 
Performance? GTX 480 is better 
 
Power Consumption / Heat? 5870 / 5890 is better 
 
 Price / Performance? 5870 / 5890 is better 

It can handle the temperture, that's not a problem, make sure you have a good gaming case, it should lower the temperture.  
 
Hey at winter time, it can double as a heater.

"

It can handle the temperture, that's not a problem, make sure you have a good gaming case, it should lower the temperture.  
 
Hey at winter time, it can double as a heater.

"

I have a GTX 480, so far the temperature is not a problem.  it only reaches 90degrees celsius when you are playing a game that is almost at 100% gpu load at default auto fan speeds.  Not many games reach that point, only crysis and cryostasis seem to use up that much in my testing.   If your still worried about temps you can manually set your fanspeed to about 85% and your gpu won't go over 75degrees when playing games.  Use a program like EVGA Precision or Rivatuner to set your fanspeeds manually.

" @HitmanAgent47 said:

"

It can handle the temperture, that's not a problem, make sure you have a good gaming case, it should lower the temperture.  
 
Hey at winter time, it can double as a heater.

"

And college students can use it as a hotplate to scramble eggs for breakfast. "