So i own a 290x - i don't have a preference for either Nvidia or AMD. I just buy whatever i feel at the time offers me the most value, depends on the deals about.. Before the 290x i had a 780Ti - but somebody offered me a substantial amount of cash on top to trade so he could SLI.
The key for Nvidia will be the 1060, if i look at it in context of the previous generation performance i'm not that shocked by the 480.
The 970 was 47% faster than the 960. So if the 1060 was as fast as the 980, it was would 45% slower than the 1070. Essentially we all in the same ballpark generation to generation.
The interesting part will be the squeeze it puts on Nvidias pricing. Essentially meaning the increases they've applied to the 1080 and 1070 aren't going to be do-able for the 1060, well not without making them uncompetitive in that sector.
It's a major boon for consumers.
I Agree with this and talked about it earlier. The 1060 is going ti be skmomar ballpark performance to the 480 and Nvidia can definitely afford to price it comparably. The issue is the 1070 and especially 1080 will look very out of place price wise and there will be a big happy between the 1060 and 1070. I'm not sure Nvidia will like that at all. They also wont want to lower 1070 and 1080 prices so soon as it would be admitting a pricing error.
AMD did a great job setting the 480 at $200, I just hope they have sufficient margins for the future. If AMD can massively invest in their crossfire support (not just drivers but proactive developer engagement) then they could be in a very strong and interesting position.