For any HD gaming , make sure to get the 3 Gig version of the 580... It can handle current & future HD textures in volume for gaming much better than the 1.5G per core of the  590...

idk im loving my 590's. havent had a problem with them yet. im running the most up to date drivers. evga percision to up the fan speed. can run bf3 ultra settings for hours no issues.
 
thing with the 590's is he would be running quad sli in 2 pci-e slots vs trying to go quad sli with the 580's. little less power supply is needed also.
 
my suggestion is if space is an issue go with 590's, if you want to expand into 4 pci-e slots and can power them go for the 3gb 580 as you can upgrade later on down the road.
 
either card is a great card.

peeler05

Get a 580 then eventually SLI it. 590 has to many problems

that, i read so many problems with the 590's aswell

im waiting for 580 classy to become available in europe aswell.

most of the problem with the 590 I believe to be driver issues of low min voltage.  evga with its 630 core need .925v on both cores, if your only getting .913v then I would rma asap but when it get the voltage it needs it runs flawless.

peeler05 Get a 580 then eventually SLI it. 590 has to many problems

My 590s have had zero problems.  What exactly are you referring to?
 
OP - Your decision might be based on what you plan to with your setup.  I game (3D on a single monitor) and fold, so the 590s were a perfect choice for me and would get them again.
 

hoserxthere are plenty of documented problems with multi-gpu cards that would make me avoid them

There are plenty of documented problems for non-multi GPU cards as well, just look at the threads here.  The point is that you really only read/hear about people having problems with cards, but not when they're working fine.  So the OP should really just consider what's best for their needs, multi-GPU or not.
 

rambler: point taken. 
 
I'm just saying I'd rather have to send one card back and be able to continue to play if a GPU has an issue, than send back a dual gpu card and be cardless if I encountered an issue. 

If gaming at 1080p get the 580 and pocket the rest of the money...If money is no object enjoy the 590.

DMIINC

590 HC here for past 5  months with out issues. Awesome card.

 
shoulda got those cards myself. wish i would have now i want to go water cooling. lol

Problems with the 590s? Mine have been flawless since they came out slaughtering everything on the market with ease on 1920x1200! No issues here and def saves space and major power vs going the 580 route. 590 FTW!

Thanks for all the feedback.  I appreciate it.  I too have read the bad reviews on the 590.  Along with the bad reviews are the good reviews.  They are interesting to read and I always try to make a good educated decision when it comes to making hard decisions like this.

I decided to take the chance and purchased an EVGA GeForce GTX 590 Classified 3072 MB, 03G-P3-1596-AR card.
 
I made the decision based on just a few things.  1) I have confidence as a consumer in EVGA and know if there are any issues with the card I receive they will be there to support me.  2) I am now curious to see if I too have any of the issues the other users had. 3) The 590 is probably the direction the industry will be going. 4) I like science projects and it will be interesting to be able to review the 590 on my own.
 
I have the motherboard and case that can support a large card and use a Viewsonic VX2753MH-LED 27-Inch LED monitor 1920x1080p Full HD resolution, which I’m sure will benefit from the upgrade.  I also have a VIZIO 47" TRULED LCD 3D HDTV I am planning on using it with from time to time.  If noise from the card's fan becomes excess I will water cool it.  I have an external Koolance for water cooling the processor and it’s only a little over 100 bucks to get the cooling block for the 590.
 
It should be arriving today.  It will be interesting.  Again thanks for feedback.
 
Jeff

Good Morning,
The gaming industry is going to continue to develope more and more complex hardware driven games in the times to come.  I'm always amazed where we have gone.  I still remember the old DOS Doom days.
 
Yes I know it's not 3gb.  It's only 3gb when running 2 in SLI.  That is deceiving in the description.
 
I use to run a dual processor Opteron 240 single core 1.4 ghz motherboard.  the processors were around $2000 bucks each.  Then they came out with the Opteron 290 which was a dual core 2.8 ghz processor.  Running a pair of these in a Tyan motherboard was lightening fast.  Now single processors have 6 cores, 12 threads.
 
I beleive graphic CPUs will go the same direction.  First they will introduce dual processors on a single board and as technology improves we will see single dual or quad core graphic CPUs.
 
It wasn't an easy decision to make.  I don't disagree 2-way or 3-way 580s isn't a bad idea and completely agree 580s in 2-way SLI outperform a single 590.  Is that really a fair comparision?  Is it more bang for your buck?  You betcha.  But it does limit growth.  Everything is too expensive anymore...
 
I purchased a COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-C50-EMBA-D2 1250W Power Supply a year or two ago.  When I purchased it I didn't need 1250Ws of power.  Tomorrow I will.
 
My case is a Cooler Master stacker, full size.  It has the space to hold dual CPU motherboards as well as 11" video cards and I know I will never out grow it.
 
I think the AMD cards are now outperforming Nvidia but many years ago had so many issues with ATI I have made the decision to stick with Nvidia.  I also chose Nvidia because I like their motherboard chip sets.
 
I've have always been a fan of AMD processors for their cost and performance.  Intel has always been too expensive.  This last time around (my science project) I went with an Intel Extreme I7 975 processor.  I haven't made up my mind on performance.  It does overclock well and remains stable.
 
My largest bottle neck in my system was hard drive speeds.  Running RAID 0 on dual drives was still never fast enough and was always holding the system back.  I removed that bottle neck by finally breaking down and investing it a pair of Intel 160gb SSD drives.  My boot time from motherboard post to "it's up and running" Windows 7 64-bit is about 30 seconds.  I open an explorer window and it immediately opens and so on...
 
I still remember a custormer I had years ago who purchased a new XT computer.  It cost him $10,000 bucks.  It's incredible how the industry has continued to evolve and I know graphic cards will continue to evolve too.  I believe the 590 is a baby step in that direction.
 
Jeff

Vram is not that big of a deal unless your benchmarking. 1.5gb card will do fine. I have yet to find a game that will bog my cards down.

violence: actually youre backwards... vram is a huge deal in games that have gigantic textures, and not a big deal in most of the major benchmarks