Mid High Budget Cards

[TheVoiceofExile]

Hey guys, this is actually my first thread here on the forums but I have been around reading a ton. This will actually benefit both myself and anyone in my situation, which is I want a new graphics card but don't know what is best for my money. I really want to stick with reference PCBs that I would be able to get a waterblock for eventually (I'm going to start a build log at some point forever from now), and I'm honestly not too sure as to which are reference and which aren't.

What I am currently looking into getting:

AMD:

3GB 7950 (~$310)

3GB 7970 Ghz (~$410)

Nvidia:

2GB 660ti (~$290)

2GB 670 (~$410)

Now I've seen how these cards stack up in benchmarks, and it really is hit or miss depending on the game. Before I end up watercooling my PC I'll be getting a second card of whatever one I end up with, which is what is really giving me problems. I plan on overclocking as much as I can while staying in my personal comfort zone for temps, so the air cooler will need to be able to handle it for the foreseeable future. I can honestly care less about the noise it makes as it won't bother me.

The cheaper options are preferred tbh, because I am looking to buy a couple other things as well and so the more money I can save the happier I'll be, but if one of the more expensive options is flat out better for the money by like 30+% then I'll go with that. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions as to what would be the best option. I'm not partial to Team Green or Team Red. Thanks in advanced everyone :D

Exile

[fishymamba]

Definitely a 7950. I have a 660Ti and the overclocking is not that great due to Nvidia restricting voltage. You can find plenty of water blocks for the 7950.

[TheVoiceofExile]

That is what I have found so far, Nvidia is far more restrictive on their mid-high end cards (Titan is like, I dun care). And you could simply overclock a 7950 to match a 7970 since they use the same GPU right?

[TERAFLOP]

Definitely a 7950. I have a 660Ti and the overclocking is not that great due to Nvidia restricting voltage. You can find plenty of water blocks for the 7950.

I completely agree, water-cooling a 660Ti isn't worth it due to the voltage cap.

The HD 7950 is quite a bit faster, overclocks incredibly well and you have that 1 extra gigabyte which will come in handy.

[Nit3Rid3R]

If you can afford the 7970, then get the 7970, it is a beast of a card, it overclocks well, AND IT COMES WITH FREE GAMES.

[TechFan@ic]

I recommend the 7970 as well, it's as fast as a 680 at stock, a lot faster when overclocked & it's got more RAM & a wider memory buss, which gives it a very big advantage with Anti Aliasing.

[ericlee30]

The 7970 has got my vote :)

[TheVoiceofExile]

Looks like the majority vote is for that 7970 lol. That is the one I've been looking at the most, and in the department of straight stats it is worth the extra money for the extra performance over the 7950. Thanks for helping me decide guys :D

[iRandomize]

Looks like the majority vote is for that 7970 lol. That is the one I've been looking at the most, and in the department of straight stats it is worth the extra money for the extra performance over the 7950. Thanks for helping me decide guys :D

People always vote for the most expensive option, you should know that :) Whenever setting a budget on forums, remote 10%, cause people tend to add that when they suggest things :)