Less than $300 it's not a bad deal.
HD5870 delivers very similar performance and that card was $360
more than 2 years ago.
GTX560 Ti 448 is only
14% faster than an HD6950 1GB ~ HD5870 at 1920x1200 4AA/16AF. At 8AA, that difference shrinks to just 8%. Also, GTX560 Ti overclocks to GTX570 speeds and costs
$200. But in DX11 games (see same 14% link), the difference shrinks even more. The reason GTX560 Ti 448 is pulling away is because AMD cards do poorly in Lost Planet 2, BattleForce and with AA with Starcraft 2 (but MLAA fixes that).
The most disappointing part here is that NV missed an opportunity to deliver a card with unbeatable price performance in this high-end segment. At $289, they hardly shook up the GPU landscape. We've actually seen GTX570s dip below $289 with rebates on many occasions. If NV priced this at $199-219, it would have shaken up the landscape. But for almost $300? Disappointing.
For $299 a highly overclocked EVGA Classified moves close to GTX 580 performance territory. That makes it a very good value in my book for overclockers. And the 448 core Ti will TriSLI for the enthusiasts.
Ok, but GTX570 hovered around that price for 6+ months and could also be overclocked to GTX580 speeds. HD6950 2GB could be unlocked into a 6970 12 months ago. NV barely dropped the price here. I am looking at it in the overall context of performance vs. price for this entire generation. $290+ for a 12 month old generation that frankly for Fermi goes to March 2010 is
way too expensive. It might look cheap vs. a GTX580 right now, but that doesn't say much since GTX580 represents horrible value to begin with. I mean in the last 2-3 days, HD5970 was $299 on Newegg....
There is not a single demanding game on the horizon for the PC in the next 4-5 months (maybe Syndicate). Why would you spend almost $300 on a card that is barely better than a $200 HD6950 1GB or GTX560 Ti? GTX560 Ti 448 won't really provide any more playability than an overclocked GTX 560 Ti. You can always resell the 560 Ti and put that $90-100 savings towards an HD7900 series card. What do you think the HD7000 series at $350 is going to do to this card next quarter?