Well, I hardly see what's going to be that exciting about a GF3 MX. Looks like it will barely outperform the current GF2 MX's, and probably still stay slower than a current Kyro II, only more expensive.
As for faster drivers, there's only so much you can do with any given piece of silicon. Otherwise we wouldn't need new video cards. We'd just keep the old TNT's and wait for new drivers. Also note how last I've seen benchmarks of those non-released Detonator 4's, they accelerated a few games that are used as benchmarks, but slowed down everything else. Sounds to me more like a trade-off to look impressive in benchmarks, than any actual useful improvement.
Briefly, I don't expect much in the way of driver miracles nVidia, nor from anyone else. Some mild improvements, yes. Miracles, no.
That said, I'd still wait for the final silicon and drivers for the Radeon 8500 before passing any final judgement. While it is possible that the final version will be faster than the beta, it's never a certainty. I'd also wait to hear if their drivers are stable and compatible with everything. Let's face it, ATI does have quite a track record for driver blunders. (In fact, almost as bad as nVidia's.)
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Moraelin -- the proud member of the Idiots' Guild