The 7800GTX was the most expensive card I ever purchased, at $600 (after a great deal from Dell + a coupon). I can't say I regretted it as it performed great at the time, there was no cheap competitor that was close in performance and it kept me going longer than any other card (except the 9700pro). But it was a sobering experience when the 7900/7950 line was launched (as you can imagine.) I've never bought another card over 299 before or since, but I admit the GT280 looks to be a similar big jump. The difference will be the AMD launch - they have the potential to offer similar thrills for less.
I will say it was somewhat unreal to have a card at the time that was that much better than everything else available at the time. Sure I could have saved a lot of money by buying a year later, but the excitement has more than faded - really you're paying a lot for the thrill of it - hard to gauge what that's worth to individual people.
I will say it was somewhat unreal to have a card at the time that was that much better than everything else available at the time. Sure I could have saved a lot of money by buying a year later, but the excitement has more than faded - really you're paying a lot for the thrill of it - hard to gauge what that's worth to individual people.