The GTX480 was never aimed at the 59xx's. Its competitor is the 5870.
all playing aside, i know that the 5970 is a dual gpu card while the gtx480 is a single gpu card. really should be no comparison between the two--to compare them is not an apples-to-apples comparison.
but... whether it was from the press who covers and writes about this stuff or actually a decision of nvidia--the gtx480
has been put up against the 5970. when the benchmarks first started showing up for the gtx480
somebody threw the 5970 in there for good measure. they showed the (ta da!) tessellation benches that trounced the 5870 and showed how close it came to besting the 5970.
we can all see it our own way, but if the gtx480 woulda had some numbers to really give the 5970 a real run for the money, the nvidia purists and fanboys alike all would have all cried that the war was over before the battle had begun! "ati is crap! they can't even make a dual gpu card to beat a single gpu card!!" we all woulda heard it and i'd go so far to say that rightfully so.
but... the gtx480 is (right now) putting up numbers (where it counts) that are only marginally better than ati's fastest single gpu card. you guys can't have it both ways! if the 5870 is the gtx480's main competitor, leave it at that. no need to bring the 5970 in the mix for whatever reason.
HAS THE CAN OF WHOOP ASS BEEN OPENED YET?
(and having said that, who was the can supposed to be opened upon? amd/ati? intel? via? apple? ibm? arm? who? enquiring minds want to know...
)
Edit: figured out who the can was supposed to be opened upon... the consumers who buy nvidia's products!