Speaking of the ATi Radeon 5800 series...

... has anyone outside of the HH review crew actually touched one? It's listed in several online stores, but is always out of stock or "typically ships in 1-2 months."

The only stores that have them charge outrageous prices: one wants $450 for a HD 5870, a 10% premium. Even MicroCenter, usually one of the best retailers, has prices all across the board, and most catalog entries have stern warnings about how they may not have it in stock when you order, etc.

I guess we're still in the "early adopter" phase, but I was hoping to plug one of these babies in by mid-November.

I saw a 5870 at stock at Newegg a few days after they came out.  Default price too.  But they only last a matter of minutes because people have email alerts for them.  Same with the 5850, saw it in stock once.

5850 for $259 is a really great card, so I guess that's why they are being gobbled up.  Even Newegg has higher than normal prices now.  Ah well, I'm happy with my 4850 and will be for a while.

Y'know, I think I would be too, if I already had one; I wouldn't upgrade. But coming from a 3850 (which, I hasten to add, has seen yeomanlike service over the years) and going to a new, state-of-the-art build, I decided on the 5850.

Amazon has surprised me in the past by shipping things before their stated dates, so I plunked down $265 for the Sapphire card. I just wish I had a super-cheap PCIe card in case it doesn't arrive before the rest of my system does-- the only parts I'm waiting on now are the motherboard, memory, and graphics. And the first two should be here within a week.