AFAIK, the best generational changes are 2x faster. 4x would be an indication of a misstep with the previous gen (5900 with DX9, 2900/3870 with AA), which isn't the case with either IHV right now. I guess sticking with a 512bit bus but moving to GDDR5 could push them closer to 3x in some cases.
So I'm thinking calling 4x is not so much ballsy as it is silly. ;P
Agreed. I'd just nitpick a bit here to and would change any multiple value to "up to 2x" or even 3x etc. G80 wasn't IMO on average 3x times faster than G71, rather "up to" with some cases probably higher than that and several below that.
Now if their X11 high end chip should end up in that sense up to 3x times faster than GT200, it'll be a well positioned product IMHO. Anything close to the up to 2x mark and recent history repeats itself to a certain degree.