Reference 7970 + Aftermarket Cooler

I have that sapphire card. I'm really happy with it, but (1) it is non-reference pcb, so it would be a pain in the ass to do an aftermarket cooler; (2) it suffers from the (relatively) lower overclocking potential you speak of. At max, I can hit 1180core/1675vram clock speeds. The sapphire cards do have unlocked voltage control. However, for $400, you can't beat it - for everyday use, I overclock it without overvolting (just adjust the board power to +20) to 1100/1500 and I get really amazing performance in any games I play at 1080p (paired with an i5-3570k @ 4.2ghz). I can easily maintain ~60+fps and max out every setting (except using 4xmsaa instead of 8x in games like Far Cry 3 or Crysis 3). The difference between a 1100 clock and a 1200 clockspeed is probably not going to make much of a perceptible difference in 95% of your real world games, but the inability of these cards to hit that 1200 mark is nonetheless a consideration.

Before I ended up with this card, I actually bought this MSI "OC" 7970 reference PCB card with a blower, thinking I would add an aftermarket cooler, but the thing had the worst case of coil whine I have ever heard. Like, screeching banshee kind of thing right out of the box. Had to RMA immediately. Also, aftermarket coolers void your warranty on any of these cards. This is another are where the sapphire card shines: The "Dual x" sapphire cooling works really well, the card stays cool under load without sounding like a jet engine even when it's like 76 degrees Fahrenheit in the room. If you really want to make sure you are going to hit 1200 clocks, I say get on of the Vapor-x GHZ edition ones that are only $450 @ Super-biz. They are supposed to be binned higher than the 2013 non-GHZ cards, and the vapor-x cooling is so good you really won't need the aftermarket cooler.

IMHO, you should just go with one of the two sapphire cards. If you absolutely must have 1200+ mhz clock speeds, get that vapor-x for the $40 extra dollars and rest easy knowing you don't have to install that aftermarket cooler and your warranty remains intact should anything go wrong in the next couple years.