Graphic card suggestions ?

Asrock Extreme 4 Gen 3
intel 2500k
Ripjaw sniper 8gb
noctua NH D-14
1000 watt OCZ ZX
crucial 64GB SSD (to run OS)
western digital 500GB (for data)
Teac DVD-ROM
windows 7 pro
 
it prolly would have been better not to buy the gen 3 mobo yet as they do not make gen 3 gpu's yet, but i was told that the mobo i purchased is backwards compatable ..with curent gpu's....and to get the full use out of the mobo..i would need to be running an ivory bridge cpu...which also isnt out yet.spent quite a bit of money already...and i have a weird feeling im gonna have all kinds of issues with the stuff i have already purchased..i dont know...all this pc building stuff is kinda confusing...the only reason im doing it..is for my 13 yr old son....im knee deep in it now...no turning back..its hard ot get staright answers from people..as most people have different opinions on what to buy and what not to buy...i guess i just need an honest opinion on what gpu would be compatible with my board..i was looking at the ASUS Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
 
Great idea building the machine w/ ya son..... I have got 3 boys and we've done 3 builds each together. Great way to get some father / son bonding over common interest. Be advised, not only have I done theirs but at this point, I'm doing all their friends and their friends parents as well :)

here's some data:

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:

$ 210.00 6950 (479/751) $ 0.44 - $ 0.56
$ 260.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $ 0.54 - $ 0.69
$ 205.00 560 Ti (455/792) $ 0.45 - $ 0.52
$ 360.00 6970 (526/825) $ 0.68 - $ 0.87
$ 205.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.41 - $ 0.48
$ 320.00 570 (524/873) $ 0.61 - $ 0.73
$ 480.00 580 (616/953) $ 0.78 - $ 1.01

Pour over it with ya son..... good lessons (and math problems) there.

As you can see, the 900 MHz 560 Ti has the lowest cost per frame both as a single card and paired in SLI. More importantly, we see that $410 dollars buys 873 fps where as the top of the line 580 gets ya only 616 for $480 .... good lesson there. Personally, I prefer the Asus model as I have had great luck OC'ing them up to 1000MHz...worth the extra $25 IMO.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425
 
thanks for the info...but that style i cannot use for my case ...they recommend a gpu that blows heat out of the back of the card ...so i may have to go with this one.ASUS EAH6970/2DI2S/2GD5 Radeon HD 6970 ..what are your thoughts