" The PS3 will jump out ahead in hardware performance, but the PC isn' t far behind. Nvidia replaced the GeForce 6800 Ultra with the much more powerful GeForce 7800 GTX last summer. It turns out that the RSX and GeForce 7800 GTX share a similar architecture, but the RSX is still slightly faster. Nvidia has since released its GeForce 7900 GTX refresh part, but the PlayStation 3 still has an advantage in that the entire system is built specifically for gaming instead of general processing."

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6125429/p-2.aspx

if that is true, then it would put on par with top of the range gaming pc' s, which is nice, and what you expect for the 500 price.