http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=20

Scroll down to see all deals. The 480 stood out to me. i know it has been on sale for as low as $200 but those deals are gone.

i think shipping is $6. The GTX 480 is a powerful card for $180 and SLI'd for $360 is pretty impressive; just make sure you have an adequate PSU. Warranty is 1 year . . .

What's cooler than being cool?

ICE COLD

Why pay $300 for a GTX 580 when you can get a 7850 or even a 7870 for less money and then it beats it by every metric aside from drivers?

What can you get for $180 that competes with a GTX 480?

Seeing as the 7850s have been going for ~$210 it's worth the extra $30.

It's not bad at $180 but it's worth the extra money to get a newer card. If the GTX 480 didn't run so hot, loud, and power hungry I would recommend it as well. Even at $180 it's warm at best though IMO.

i think they are pretty great deals

Well, they're about what those cards are worth. If you're an nVidia fan and won't consider a 7850 they are ok.

FIRST of ALL, the GTX 480 neither runs hot nor loud. Only the first run of reference 480s had that designation. It was much the same with HD 7970; it started out relatively loud and hot compared to a GHz edition of today even though performance is similar.

Secondly, if you don't overclock, the GTX 480 will wipe the floor with HD 7850. If you do, the 480 also overclocks to nearly catch a GTX 580 in performance.

What is "newer"? Both cards are technically "new" and it takes an Overclocked HD 7850 to catch a GTX 480.

And if you are worried about the few cents difference in your monthly power bill, i don't know what to say

Come on, even the newer GTX 480s are hot and loud compared to the 7850. At $180 these cards are fine but I wouldn't call them a hot deal. They are warm at best. These are the prices that these cards should be at, perhaps even lower in the case of the GTX 580.

If "hot and loud" isn't an important metric for you when comparing the HD 7970 against the GTX 670/680, why should it be when comparing the GTX 480 vs the HD 7850?

This GTX 480 is a faster card for less money than the 7850 and would be especially attractive to the majority of users who don't overclock. And we haven't even begun to talk about drivers - you yourself said that you would not be getting an AMD card for that very reason

$180 for GTX 480 is a great deal undoubtedly