I've always been a bit skeptical of crossfire, it seems a little clumsy and since RoF will be my main interest alongside Cliffs, potentially, so I can probably do without it.

I notice that many of you are using better CPUs', RAM and even SSDs' now so I'll definitely be looking at more than a GFX card.

Here in Aus I can probably manage to build a half-way decent system for >$1000 but that is going to take longer to save than the $170 I was looking at for at 460.

But it will be worth it I'm sure.

I'm getting more and more enthusiastic about Cliffs now, especially with the sound mod released which is what I have been waiting for and it looks like Cliffs will include the same kind of progressive improvements that 1946 and RoF have enjoyed. Hopefully a good single player campaign will be one of them.

Apart from that I don't really play many other modern games. I fool around with Empire Total War (with Darthmod), ArmA II (It's kinda boring though and MP sucks unless you like sniping, Javelins and watching people TK each other for jets) and, don't laugh, Oblivion, which I have very heavily modded (<100 mods, lol).

System specs below, game runs smooth as silk. Highly recommend the ATI 6870.

Get a used 480 if you can and then SLI down the track.

Wouldn't touch a AMD gpu at this time if you payed me to. Intel beats them hands down which relegates AMD to the cheap/low end marketshare for cpus.

Jimmy - like said *especially* if you are going for a new system in all, I would wait. Not only will the 28nm gpus be launched at the end of the year/start of next year, but Intel Ivybridge 28nm CPUs will also be launching at the same time, and AMD will be releasing bulldozer so the prices on everything current will fall, and the new die shrinks could give a big performance boost. Also Ivybridge will require a new mobo because its not using the current socket system (the 1366, 1155 or 1156), which means there will be a new mobo range out which might be PCI3. The only thing that wont change drastically is ram, although mhz will go up most likely as the new cpus will have a faster clock.

This was all supposed to be out at the end of this year but TSMC is having trouble with the 28nm fab, apparently the yields are not good enough yet for full production as the tech is very new. Also tablets/phones are going to eat alot of 28nm chips - all of this has resulted in a delayed release for Q1 2012 although AMD GPU might still come out this year, although bulldozer is looking dodgy.

I got a PNY GTX460 1 gb 256 bit for $150.00 USD out the door...
my cpu is a core2duo 2.93 ghz, but only have 2gb ddr2 ram... nvidia 750 i PN7 motherboard..

Win7

$150.00 is a good deal. I would not pay more.. make sure you get the 1 gb and 256 bit, they have an SE edition which was cheapened and selling for much less..

PNY is factory overclocked.

does not overheat..

I fly a few flight sims.. and am happy..
of course a GTX480 would be better is you have the cash..

I'm personally waiting for the new cards. This generation is already more than halfway through it's product cycle, and AMD may well have Southern Isles ready before year's end.

You really need more ram, that card is probably operating way under its potential with only 2gb of system ram.

my advise would be to continue to wait until the game is finished and then get a better idea at what its going to take to run it all maxed out. ( i wish i would have ) :)

If you cant wait just to give you an idea the single card systems with 2G of Vram and over seem to be running well. The dual card systems with 2.5G Vram and over combined seem to work as good.

I can really only speak for my rig below which runs great (except for stutters) with everything maxed out as long as i keep it in 1776x1000 Resolution. as soon as I go up to 1920x1080 I get a slide show even with all the graphics turned down. (Crossfire issue maybe but still not sure until more patches come)

Good luck
cheers :)

At the end of this year ATI and Nvidia are releasing new cards, these ones are completely new unlike the ones we have now which are just redesigns and dual core. If you can not afford the new design which I would recommended you get then you can get a 580 etc for cheaper as they will reduce in price to make room for the next gen cards.

Yes thank you for your wisdom Mr. But I think I already coverd this.