Have you heard the reports of the GeforceFX at COMDEX and such? That extra built on slotted cooling is not quiet. The fan on my Radeon is running much quieter and slower than the fan on my Geforce3, which has a lower clock speed. There are many factors, but it was my immediate impression that the Radeon 9500 ran much quieter and cooler than my old Geforce3.
The GeforceFX will of course be faster than the Radeon 9700 PRO in most, if not all, of the tests. But will it be fast enough to warrant the price it will be, and the noise level that it maintains, and the fact that it takes up two expansion ports in your computer.
It's all about marketing. ATI is going to drop the price of their top of the line card with the GeforceFX is released (at $550, I'll wager) and then they'll have a much better price:performance ratio. The GeforceFX will be like those 60" plasma paper thin HDTVs. It's not the best buy, but for those that have the money they'll get it no question. Of course the GFX is far from paper thin, so that may be a flawed analogy
