So, it is clear that those who got, or wanna get an ATI card know that it won't accelerate PhysX, meaning that their CPU will either by super fast, or simply disable its effect. They knew PhysX is widely used, but hope that it either dies off or will one day work for non-nvidia video cards.
PhysX is indeed widely used.
PhysX which can run on the GPU? Not so much. In fact, it's barely used at all.
It is also very interesting that they believe that Nvidia 470 is a lot louder than 5870. To them, 470 is jet engine, and 5870 uses passive cooling. The fact is, both are loud, very loud, and 470 is a bit louder. 5870 is about 42-60 dba, and 470 is about 44-62 dba. If you think 5870 is silent and 470 is OMG loud, then it is probably your problem.
Most people seem to think "GTX470, well the GTX480 is loud so the GTX470 is loud too!" It's a family issue, people not differentiating between the cards enough, like people saying the GTX480 has better minimum frame rates than the HD5870 so the GTX470 must as well. They are two different cards which need to be considered as different cards because they have many different characteristics like performance, power and noise.
Of course it is louder, but not as loud as the GTX480 which people associate with it.
The real down side of Fermi is its power consumption. You need to ask yourself, how often is your video card on full load? and how often is it on idle? I am not doing math here, but I say 470 roughly uses 30 more watts if you are a heavy gamer. If you really think it is a OMG big difference, then it is probably your problem too.
Again, a family issue. The GTX480 uses a LOT of power, the GTX470 still uses a not inconsiderable amount more, but is nowhere near as bad as the GTX480, but people don't differentiate enough between the two cards.
If you think 3D gaming is a gimmick, then you will probably found yourself outdated. Avatar is not the first 3D movie, but it is the one that make 3D movie attractive. If 3D is 50 years old tech, then tessellation is about 400 years, as the word "tessellation" was found in 1660, and the tech was found in 1600.
Err, ok...
But it still is a gimmick. And it's also not an NV-only thing. In fact, that Avatar you reference has a game out on multiple platforms, consoles and PC. And it does indeed support 3D as well. And you know what? It supports 3D on ATI hardware, NV hardware, and on those consoles. So while I think 3D is indeed still a gimmick, even if you don't think 3D is a gimmick, it's not a vendor-specific thing (although NV has their own implementation
which currently seems to be superior to ATIs in terms of developer support, the freedom of hardware you need to buy with it etc), but it's not an ATI vs NV thing, since both can support it, and sometimes do (but it depends on your hardware... in both cases)
I am not saying 470 is a must buy, but I seriously don't see how 5870 is that much better by any aspect. IMO, since Dx11 is not the norm and games really are still mostly Dx9, those are just like fans with lights. With those v-cards at 1600x1200, games will probably runs over 60 FPS. Now with a 60hz monitor, you won't even see more than 60FPS. If 3D and PhysX is not your cup of tea, than there is actually no way to use up those extra horsepower. So why do you getting 5870 if you don't have a super hi rez display or multi display? If it is in the name of DirectX 11, then you really should go for 470 as it is better at tessellation.
You can have a way to use up the extra horsepower, such as Eyefinity, but that's even more expense and reduces the "it's faster and a little more expensive" because it becomes "it's faster and to have a great experience it's a lot more expensive", but on the other hand not all games can run with everything cranked on either card at some resolutions, so in many ways you are buying for the future.
Unfortunately superior raw performance now might not translate into superior performance in the future when things like tessellation do become the norm, so it becomes a life issue (how long will the life of the card be in your machine), and will tessellation be the thing which kills the HD5870 in future games, and let the GTX470 show itself as a superior future proof product or not, but unfortunately no-one has a crystal ball. In current DX11 games the HD5870 is (IIRC) typically faster. BFBC2, Stalker, Dirt 2 are ATI wins according to AT, while NV wins in Battleforge. So currently the superior tessellation performance doesn't mean wins in DX11 in general.
These cards are also not getting even 60fps at 1920x1200 with everything cranked in some of these games, so the extra horsepower won't be wasted at all, in fact it will be quite useful for maintaining playable frame-rates.
Not even going to go into the "you can't see over60gps" thing.
Some claimed that games bottlenecked by video card, while this is true for a few games that are designed to utilize high-end cards like 2033, it is false on most games. The fact is that Dx9 is single threaded and Dx10 is generally 2 threaded, I7 really is a waste. What really bottlenecks FPS is the FSB design, which the QPI kills it hands down. On top of that, I/O wait also plays a big role on MMOs, which SSD is the upgrade that you should aim for, not video card.
As you increase the resolution and details, you're getting more and more graphics bottlenecked, so you are fairly wrong there. When a faster card gets higher frame rates, you are video card bottlenecked. While there is an issue with most/many sites testing with a 4GHz Core i7 (which is not what everyone has), at high resolutions like the OP is using, a more powerful card is useful. Of course, it's all a balance game, but at high resolutions the balance shifts to the GPU.
IMO if you really wanna go for ATI, 5850 is the best. If Nvidia is your cup of tea, go for 470. 5850 don't support PhysX, but cheaper and max out almost all games. If it doesn't, buy another one and go for xfire. If 3D is your cup of tea and you really want to burn some money, go for 3 120 projector and SLI some 480s. Otherwise, 470 will handle most games in 3D load on a single display. If you are using 48xx or 280/295, save your money for the next gen.
The GTX, due to its pricing, is a damned good buy compared to the HD5870 (which is still selling for over $400 at most places it seems, needs to go back to that $380 mark), since it's only a bit slower and quite a margin cheaper, but then, that's only if you can actually buy one.
While you make many (IMO poor) points, your conclusion is mostly right, depending on the games being played.
If the OP was a hardcore BFBC2 player, the HD5870 would be the only choice. Equally if he wanted to play something where PhysX actually helps as a main game, then the GTX470 would be more worthwhile.
If the OP wants to buy right now, the HD5870 is the easier choice (due to higher availability, although that might change next week).
But generally the difference between the two cards is that the GTX470 loses, but not enough (in most situations) to be a difference between playable and unplayable so the extra $60 might not be worth it for the most part, but in some games where the HD5870 does seem to win big, if those are what's being played, then it might definitely be worth considering. Or if the aim is an eventual multiple display setup, same as a GTX470 might be the choice if 3D was a goal before the next upgrade was planned.
While the GTX470 does have some added features, they either aren't really used (PhysX) or they aren't actually NV features (3D) and require hardware the OP might not have and therefore wouldn't care for. I know I wouldn't care about 3D because I have a nice enough 24" monitor that I don't feel a need to replace and which would double my budget if I did want to upgrade graphics and get a 3D supporting monitor. But when the performance difference is so slim in many games, it's all a game specific thing, but if I had a budget of $x, and I could easily spend $x, why wouldn't I do that and maximise my performance? Especially when I'm likely to be GPU limited due to my screen resolution.
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