Well with EVGA you don't lose the warranty overclocking, or overvolting either. Maybe thats a good reason. I already mentioned that in the post you replied to. So there goes your biggest con. What else is there as a con for the 460?
And while I'm repeating, if you aren't an overclocker all you have to do is buy the superclocked gtx460 1gb, which is still cheaper than the 6870, to get the performance as the 6870 stock for stock.
And if you really want to get all technical, the 6870 or a gtx460 isn't going to give you ''massive'' gains over a gtx260 or a 5770 either, which can be had for $100-120 now.
Reasons-
GTX460 is smaller, cooler, less power draw, overclocks better, same strength when mildly overclocked , stronger when highly overclocked, lifetime warranty from EVGA thats not voided with overclock, and it's cheaper.
8 reasons isn't enough?
Edit- Lets make it 9 reasons- As I mentioned earlier, a gtx460 may be able to be unlocked once the 475's come out and you can get a Bios for it. At that point, the 6870 will eat dust from the gtx475.
So what are the reasons to get the 6870 over the gtx460? Slightly stronger at stock clocks....OK thats one....
The size, temperature and (to a point) the overclockability are reasons for it, yes, especially the first 2, the 460 is tiny for the power it throws out, and 10-15 degrees difference is pretty damn big, but the others are getting into what I was saying about benchmarks in another thread about them, and how a very tiny difference is often blown out of all proportions.
At stock, under load, the 460 draws about 4 watt less. Are you seriously saying that a 4 watt difference is a reason to buy 1 card over another? That is, for the sake of argument, the exact same power draw, you aren't going to notice the difference by stress on your PSU, or on your electricity bill. The factory overclocked cards will be drawing slightly more power than a stock 6870 will, but again, not that much that it will be noticable, so is neither a pro, nor a con
The lifetime warranty, what about the XFX 6870? Lifetime warranty, and if you want to OC, they can't prove that you have done, so although in the fine print, you lose warranty, in reality you know as well as me that you don't. It is nice to know with EVGA that they won't throw it back in your face and say they think you have overclocked, so aren't going to cover you, but like everything else to do with overclocking, unless you are happy to potentially lose your warranty and want the extra performance, it isn't really a factor.
I'm going to linger on that last point for a moment, to say the reason why I don't think it should be a reason, is the same reason that I don't think saying get a dual or tri core PhenomII/AthlonII with a board with ACC, you might be able to make it a quad core should be a reason. It isn't certain you will get the extra core, just like it isn't certain you will get the same overclocks as everyone else. You get yourself an awful chip, and you going buying a card "because it is a great overclocker" has just been for nothing. It is a personal thing, but I would rather know for certain that I have what I want and need, and have anything else as a nice bonus. With the 6870, you get what you want and need without changing anything.
Then what you said about performance. In a fair few games/tests, the 6870 is on par with a 5850 or GTX470. An overclocked 460 can meet/beat a 5850, and can get close to 470, but not to the extent that a 6870 does. But again, we are getting into the realms of can you notice the difference, and I think the answer there is no. Image quality is near identical, fps is also, but that is with 1 card stock, the other overclocked. I know, from those 2, which I would pick.
Price:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...stream-processors-2x-dl-dvi-i-hdmi-2x-mini-dp
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-...shader-1700mhz-336cores-2xdl-dvi-i-1xminihdmi
~£5 difference, again, isn't exactly a fortune. If it were more, I could understand, but as prices change, which they will do, the 6870 will drop in price after the initial period of just being released, where as nvidia won't be dropping the 460 price for a while yet.
I have just checked on newegg though also, and there there is ~$30 difference between those 2 cards (with MIR factored in), which is definitely a sum that would justify getting one over the other, so I have to agree with you that for the prices on the egg, the 460 would be the better option.
And the final edit that you put in about the 475, it should be if the 475 comes out, not when. So far the only "evidence" that there is a 475 coming is from nvidia's past, and from speculation. No word has come from nvidia's mouth about revised fermi cards, or any solid fact that a 460 can have its bios flashed to vastly increased performance