Read my post again Wile E. I didn't call Fermi a failure. I'm saying it should perform better for it's power usage. NVidia thinks the same that's why they're doing the GTX 580. They knew there were power issues from the problems in it's manufacture. Now they are going to fix it.
I chose not to buy a 5870 and go for two 5850's because i wanted super performance. 5870 wasn't enough. I spent £400 on a gfx solution - don't think that doesn't make it any less than buying one single card. You're logic is irrelevant. If i bought 2 x 5770's then yeah, big diff. But i bought 5850's in Nov 09 when they were the 2nd fastest single chip solutions. I couldn't buy a GF 100 because well, someone forgot how to make them on time.
You seem to miss that I'm not slagging off GF 100. I'm simply saying it should perform better and the GF110 is exactly that fix. It's also where NV want to go with Kepler and Maxwell. They have stated they want to produce 'x' times performance gains with a marked improvement in efficiency.
And on power - going by W1zz's readings:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/Radeon_HD_6870/27.html
One 5850 = 150 Watts (two even doubled = 300)
One 480 = 320 Watts.
Comparison on max power.
Now i'm not arguing on that point anymore, take it up with W1zz.
As for i7's consuming more power than phenom x6:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3674/amds-sixcore-phenom-ii-x6-1090t-1055t-reviewed/10
Yeah, my 920 conumes 2 Watts more on this test yet performs:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3674/amds-sixcore-phenom-ii-x6-1090t-1055t-reviewed/9
3 wins for i7 920, 2 draws and one loss.
And we all know clock speeds mean jack between AMD and Intel.
I spent £1500 on my self built rig. I get to call myself an enthusiast. I'm not a water cooler or into shiny neon. My money goes on quality for noise/performance optimisation as i watch TV through my PC. For me, performance must be met with acceptable noise levels. I had to use rivatuner on my GTX 295 to lower idle fan speeds. I dont on my crossfire set up. People have different priorities - accept it, enthusiasts dont all care about pure power at the expense of everything else.
So, if you're going to quote me again, quote this:
GF100 isn't a failure -
it should have performed better, even JSH said so in his modest interview. GTX 580 is to fix that. That's what i've been posting all along.