[Salazaar]

Question 1:
1) Gold plated TV out and DVI connector that allows better signal quality and less oxidization
2) Superb solid capacitor for stable power voltage and advance durability
3) Exceeds normal overclocking speeds with up to 10%

Question 2:
The most important thing when I buy a new graphics card is balance. It's all very well having a dozens of rendering pipes and a 50% overclock but in the end its real world performance needs to balanced against both its competeing products and more importantly against my current setup. I'm not going to go out and spend £200+ on a flash new GPU after spending almost the same on my last one only 18 months ago if I'm only going to see a marginal increase in the framerate on my 19" monitor.

Once I can see that a product will offer me a definitive performance boost for my money I'll start looking at things like thae cooler and the warranty. Obviously it's nice to have a good quite cooler (and if its low profile, all the better) which performs well and a good warranty is always worth looking for, however I don't see the point in paying extra for a warranty which massively exceeds the normal lifespan (i.e. beyond the point that it's redundant anyway) of the product.