Finished ordering my Build...all thats left is graphics card..

[nastynas]

so my build so far ran me 1.1k and my budget for a graphics card is probably 500 dollars max
this is what i got so far

CASE: cooler master haf XM

MONITOR: Asus VS228H-P 21.5" LED Monitor

STORAGE: WEstern digital caviar black 1TB

CPU: Intel core i5-3570k

CPU COOLER: Corsair Hydro Series HIgh Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H60

RAM: G.Skill sniper 8gb 1866

MOTHERBOARD: AS Rock LGA 115 Z77 Extreme4

SSD: Samsung 840 Series 120GB

CD/DVD: internal blu ray

PSU: XFX 850W XXX edition

so for a graphics card ive been leaning towards a sapphire 7970 ghz edition or an evga 680

i really want the two free games that come along with the 7970 but i believe the 680 is a much better card looking at benchmarks and such, it seems to always perform better in the games i play like crysis, bf3, skyrim

also the 680 is much quiet as well...im concerned that the 7970 will sound like a jet taking off like everyone says

 

[2wenty]

Well, to be honest, the 7970 and 680 have very similar performance levels. If you were looking at a 680, I would probably go with a 670 instead, since they have close performance, but the 670 is $100 cheaper (better bang/buck). I would personally choose the 7970, since the noise levels are mainly determined by the fans (ie. which company you purchase the card from, since each manufacturer uses a different non-reference cooler, especially if you get a 7970 ghz. edition). The 7970 is also a lot cheaper, and has an extra GB of V-RAM, which will definitely help in future games, especially on resolutions of 1440p and above. Plus the two free games are bloody awesome!

 

[gamingboy]

I would also choose the 7970. They are on par with 680's, and they are cheaper. They also have superior Open CL performance, and by superior I mean atleast twice the performance of the 680.

 

[nastynas]

hmm valid points i was going to go for an GHZ version particulary the Sapphire which is around 450 dollars..would choosing a GHZ give me better room for overclocking since the cooling additions they make to the GHZ editions

 

[2wenty]

I'm not sure which ones are voltage locked or not (another thing the 680 doesn't allow), but the Sapphire Vapor-X cards offer great cooling solutions for overclocking.

 

[nastynas]

Best answer selected by nastynas.