So it loses in a few games here and there (seems to be the Rainbow Six ones) to the 9800GTX but trounces it with higher AA and res settings, and can even match up to the GTX260?

It's pretty clear that the card is ~9800GTX levels at lower settings but really separates itself with AA and AF and higher reses. Hence the 8800Ultra comparison, since the 8800Ultra and 9800GTX are relatively the same speed until you start cranking up res, AA, and AF then the Ultra shows why its still the better card.

And you might not care about performance/watt, that's great. I don't really either. But it sure as hell shows that the RV770 is much more efficient than the GTX280 which gives us lackluster performance for its gigantic GPU die size and power draw. Put two RV770s together and you match a GTX280 for 2/3 the price and less power draw. That's what I'm amazed at - the fact they fit 300 million more transistors, 2.5x ALU, 2.5x TMU's in 30ish% more die space. Now if only they'd do that at a 350mm^2 die size