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#31
DX11 is backwards compatible with DX10.1 cards, however DX10.1 cards will not support DX11 only features.
Realistically though, it will be a couple of years before DX11 support in games will be commonplace.
But considering the time frame you're looking at purchasing, the prices of dx10.1 cards will be much better for then you than they were for me now
There's plenty of knowledgeable users on this forum, so it would be hard not to pick something up and the majority are always happy to help :)
You really should consider the 4890. It's a more refined variant of the 4870 and in all the benchmarks and reviews I read the 4890 comes out on top VS the 4870.
Physx is in use in quite a few games to varying degrees of implementation. It's a nice feature to have, looks good in those games that support it, (especially mirors edge and cryostasis) but there are no current "must have" titles that need it.