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New Build need some advice, stuck on GPU

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Hey everyone,

Awesome site just came here recently as I started to look into building a gaming PC again. I haven't built a PC in 5ish years just upgraded a couple parts as needed but am ready to do a new build and have some questions as I am not up to speed on all of the components. I will link the info below and my question(s), any advice is appreciated. I apologize in advance if this is long-winded :) 

Approximate Purchase Date: by end of March

Budget Range: $1500-$2000 (absolute max would like to stay closer to 1500)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, watching movies, general internet surfing

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse and monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: amazon, newegg, tigerdirect

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: Intel and AMD Radeon

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: Not currently but open to it in the future

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1200

Additional Comments: Need most assistance choosing a good video card (can't for the life of me decide to go with a 7950 or 7970 and at that point which brand to go with. Current games am going to play BF3, SWTOR and WOW) and want a system that has some future proofing to it.

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K Processor $219.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EBUXHQ/ref=as_li_s...

MOBO: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 $199.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005UDITPK/ref=as_li_s...

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler $34.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=as_li_s...

GPU: see above addl comments need help here

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 16 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600 $99.99 - (16gb may be overkill, know I can get by with 8)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RFBIUU/ref=as_li_s...

Data Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s with NCQ 32MB Cache $107.00
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004IZN3YI?tag=banforbucga08-2...

SSD: Don't know these brands as well, want a 90ish GB drive to hold OS and a game or 2 possibly, advice appreciated here as well.

PSU Option #1: Corsair HX Professional Series 750-Watt #139.99 (prefer modular want to make sure enough power for GPU etc)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029F21LK/ref=as_li_s...

PSU Option #2: Corsair Enthusiast Series 850-Watt $134.99 (if this much power is needed but prefer modular)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004MYFODI?tag=banforbucga08-2...

Computer case I prefer Cooler Master HAF series (friend has 1 and I like the functionality of them but not sure how large of a case I need so listed the low and high range)

Mid Case: Cooler Master HAF ATX Mid Tower Case, RC-922M-KKN1-GP (Black) $89.00
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-RC-922M-KKN1-...

Full Case: Cooler Master HAF X Full Tower w/ SuperSpeed USB 3.0 w/ Window w/ Black Interior ATX Case (RC-942-KKN1) $179.99
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-SuperSpeed-Interior...

Optical Drive: LG UH12LS28K LightScribe 12x SATA Blu-Ray Combo Internal Drive, Bulk (Black) $64.95
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004U65FM8?tag=banforbucga08-2...

So I am at $955 - $1135 depending on the case and still need a GPU and want a SSD drive. As stated previously appreciate any any comments/input.

More about : build advice stuck gpu

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7970:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

SSD 64GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

128GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

I'd go with the Mid Case but I think you'll get better airflow with the Full Case, it really depends on what you want out the case.

Reason I chose the M4 SSD is because they're one of the most reliable SSD out right now.

Edit: Also I picked the 7970 over the 7950 because of the resolution you plan to play BF3 on. At around 1080p your looking at around 70fps on Ultra graphics with 4x AA and around 90fps with Ultra but no AA.

Zero_ $1500 rig isn't bad but that PSU he has is not something you should consider. I'd also swap out that SSD as well as the RAM. The only thing you'll end up sacrificing is your blu-ray optical drive and your choice of case but then again you can switch those out to.
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Thanks for all the help so far. That Crucial SSD looks like a winner and I was leaning towards the 7970 and saw the Sapphire you listed. So as I browse the 7970's are there companies to steer away from or others like Sapphire that are preferred manufacturers to go with? Just with spending that much on a card want to go with a reputable brand and as the 7970s and 7950s are relatively new wanted your all input on it.

For GPU on BF3, get a GTX 580 or wait for the 600 series. If I were buying today, this is what I would get. 1 is more than enough to run ultra settings and if you ever felt you were missing out, you could SLI two of them and you would want for nothing in the graphics department. I would probably wait for the 600 series to come out because they will have better performance and the price of the 500 series cards will go down.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

For SSD, I use the Intel 520 - it's ridiculously fast and very reliable. Been through OCZ, Intel, Crucial, Samsung & Corsair drives and Intel/Crucial are the most reliable and Samsumg is fairly reliable and pretty quick. Here's a link to the one I use in my desktop:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Best solution

game junky said:
For GPU on BF3, get a GTX 580 or wait for the 600 series. If I were buying today, this is what I would get. 1 is more than enough to run ultra settings and if you ever felt you were missing out, you could SLI two of them and you would want for nothing in the graphics department. I would probably wait for the 600 series to come out because they will have better performance and the price of the 500 series cards will go down.


For that price I rather recommend a 7870 it beats the 580 in some cases and comes very close to the same performance. And just by the $350 price tag on the 7870 it's a win win situation. For the price of a 580 the 7970 is the better choice.

aRodr1guez said:
For that price I rather recommend a 7870 it beats the 580 in some cases and comes very close to the same performance. And just by the $350 price tag on the 7870 it's a win win situation. For the price of a 580 the 7970 is the better choice.


I am in agreement with this. There is no point in paying $550 for a card that likely be priced at $400 at some point next 2 weeks.

aRodr1guez said:
For that price I rather recommend a 7870 it beats the 580 in some cases and comes very close to the same performance. And just by the $350 price tag on the 7870 it's a win win situation. For the price of a 580 the 7970 is the better choice.


I agree with this choice - the Radeon 7870 is 1/2 the cost of the 7970 and the 580 and it's matching and in some cases beating the 570 and 580 on a lot of tests, check out these benchmarks: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7870-revi...

iknowhowtofixit said:
I am in agreement with this. There is no point in paying $550 for a card that likely be priced at $400 at some point next 2 weeks.


So do you all think with the release of the NVIDIA Kepler series in the near future that the 7950s/7970s will drop drastically in price? It sounds like if that is the general consensus I can wait for the release and purchase the GPU then.

ln8367 said:
So do you all think with the release of the NVIDIA Kepler series in the near future that the 7950s/7970s will drop drastically in price? It sounds like if that is the general consensus I can wait for the release and purchase the GPU then.


You don't need to wait for even a week - the Radeon 7870 and 7850 are out next Monday (supposedly) and they're matching and in some cases beating the GTX 580, as was stated previously. The 7870 is 1/2 the cost of the 580 and 680 (~$320 approx) and it's matching those numbers easily.

Thanks for the feedback. I feel good about the rest of the components to purchase them now and will wait for when the new cards come out in the next week or so to then purchase the GPU.
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