Best graphics card for 1920 x 1200 gaming?

[karpundir]

I need help in choosing the best graphics card for 1920 x 1200 gaming on a Dell Ultrasharp 24" monitor. It seems that I am leaning toward a GTX 560 Ti/570/580, but don't know which specific card(s) I should consider without going into overkill. I plan to run SLI down the road when there are more demands on the GPU.

Here are my Qs:

1. Should I get a reference card, OC or Super OC and what is the ideal clock speed? (I read on one of the forums that Crysis 2 DX11 has problems with super OC'd cards)
2. Is premature burnout a concern for the Super OC'd cards?
3. How much can you OC a reference model?
4. I hear that the reference models have the better cooling (due to exhaust system) and run more quietly. Is this true?
5. Are reference or OC models better for SLI configurations?


I will be building a new system using the following:

i5-2500K
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 OR Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 OR ASRock Z68 Extreme4 OR Sabertooth P67
2 x 4GB Dual Channel PC12800, 1600MHz, CL8
Crucial M4 CT064M4SSD2 2.5" 64GB SATA III or similar (a TigerDirect rep said that OCZ has a high failure/return rate on their SSDs)
WD Caviar Black 2TB, 7200 RPM, SATA III (500GB platters on this model, right?)
Lite-on or Samsung 12X/16X Blu-Ray/DVD
Corsair Enthusiast Series 850W (CMPSU-850TXV2) OR Antec TPQ-850 TruePower Quattro 850W (or do I need more power?)
H50 or H60 CPU water cooling
HAF-X Case (any problems with the above components that you are aware of with this case?)

 

[Entropyon]

Just bought that case. Very happy with it so far. I have just about finished the build phase, (just waitng to het my graphics card/cards). Its got lots of space and excellent cooling features.

In your casse i would consider a HD 6950, and later get another.
If you want to go with nvidia (and have dark corners) i would get a GTX580.

What games do you play?

 

[karpundir]

In your casse i would consider a HD 6950, and later get another.
If you want to go with nvidia (and have dark corners) i would get a GTX580.

What games do you play?

I'll be playing Crysis 2, BF3, RPGs like Dragon Age and Skyrim, high art MMOs like RIFT, racing sims, RTSs, Diablo 3 (whenever it gets released!). You get the idea. Lots of action!

It seems that the majority of gamers favor nvidia for better gaming support, plus Crysis 2 is optimized for it, as well. I know the ATI cards are better value, but it seems the majority would rule here.

I've never heard about dark corners before, though!

 

[bdizzle11]

Id go with the gtx 580. Definitly one of the best single gpu cards. Ive heard the MSI lightning is the best out of the 580's. If its in your budget go with that, the SLI down the road will be a good option then also.

 

[The Halo Don]

6950 is definitely what youre looking for! And CF later on for the maximum performance, but I guess if you can afford the one listed above, go for that!

 

[karpundir]

Best answer selected by karpundir.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey