Video Card Decision

I'll try to make this clean:
Model                 Memory   Core Clock   Memory Clock   Price
ATI RADEON X1800 XT   512MBs    625MHz      1500MHz        $489.00
BFG GeForce 7800 GTX  512MBs    580MHz      1750MHz        $749.00
XFX GeForce 7800 GTX  256MBs    490MHz      1300MHz        $525.00
eVGA GeForce 7800 GT  256MBs    470MHz      1100MHz        $319.00
I am not an overclocker, nor take preference of Ati or Nvidia.
1)http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/
They indicate that the 512MB 1800XT is trounced by even the 256MB GT in most cases. (However, note Serious Sam 2) However, that publication was made on December 2, about 3 weeks ago, so since some models have been introduced since then are these results still okay to go by?

2)I've heard that the new Ati cards although not as fast as the N-ones can render better pictures. Is this true and would it have any impact on photo viewing or is it simply isolated to game use? Consequently, would it be worth the speed lost for the better picture quality?

3)To those of you that have had some of these cards would you call the increase in speed per cost noticable as a jump between the from the 1800 to the GT or GTX for sake of example, or is there a certain frame-rate plateau that is always comfortable?

4) Finally, considering everything, which card will give me the best bang for the buck?
I hear a new generation of cards from from both companies are coming out by spring of 2006, do you believe they will take up the 500 and up dollar slot, and force these cards down in price? The Ati 850 and the 6800 are still being sold well into the 300s...

It's a choise between the eVGA and Radeon for me, don't waste money on anything more expensive than those it's only a matter of a few years/months til some dickhead makes a new graphics card 10 times as powerful as those.. or so I say. You might want to look into albatron geforce 7800 for also cheap price.

>>1
You don't do that. Clock speed != performance. Go to tomshardware.com and get their benchmark results, then you can divide that by money and get the highest one.

I think you're aiming too high though. For half the price you can get a GeForce 6800 which will last just one year less than these, and then you can buy another $200-$250 card and have a new one instead of an old one.

ATI's Radeon X700 is HL2-approved and suggested for the most cost-effective means for high-end gaming...as far as ATI is concerned, at least. I'm running one, HL2 runs relatively smoothly on highest settings, although lots of different actions tend to slow it down a bit. I don't usually keep it on highest, I'm not so spoiled. :x