Best GPU for $400

I would buy the GTX 670 but it's up to you either way i am sure you'll be happy with either one.

i have no idea why there would be any hesitation to get a 670 over a 7950  

I have a 670 and it is phenomenal. The lower bus makes no difference since the performance in many games is near that of the 7970.

Best review

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-r...

GTX 670..

Not sure whether 2GB will be enough for my multi-monitor setup though...

if you actually WANT and would buy all 3 games that's ~100 bucks off. and there are 7950s much cheaper than that card that could probably be overclocked to the same level as that card or higher(an xfx card going for 300 right now with rebate and promo code). plus gpgpu compute reasons. All depends on the buyer.

OP remember for 3 displays with AMD you will probably need an active display port to single link dvi adapter which I think are like 25 bucks. (unless its a special card like a sapphire flex) because the hdmi and single link dvi port use the same signal. Although you COULD use the onboard graphics to drive a non gaming display instead.

Nvidia finally got over their 2 display only limit with the 670 and 680, so no extra cost there...

don't need much memory for "basic apps" on the other 2. the memory is only potential needed if gaming on hi Res setups. you're only gaming at 1080p

I have never oc'd before so I am aiming for stock oc'd and the sapphire 950 looks like the best 7950 at this point, and yes I would need to get a pair of hdmi display port wires.

I am reading through the reviews on newegg it looks like there are too many unhappy customers with $400 card. However It looks like its mostly due to driver issues.

Until new drivers come out, I think I may hold out on my gpu, with 660 around the corner sli might be the way to go. Especially since the sapphire 7950 950 mhz has no reviews on it yet either.

If you are not comfortable OCing the 7950 is definitely at a disadvantage. plus if you need a pair of adapters which pushes the price up... really hard to recommend the 7950 even with the games. Seems like a 670 is probably you best option by a quite a bit.

As for SLI, its almost always better to buy a single card in your budget than an SLI setup, baring a huge price advantage. You don't deal with SLI issues/drivers/game problems or heat. And you can go to SLI with the single card later to "double" performance and save money, vs the cheaper cards that will have to be straight up replaced.

The exception. to that is highres setups that NEED highend cards in SLI to get decent frameworks.

Maybe consider this 6950 times 2 crossfired would be something you are interested in :-

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

But yeah, a 670 would leave you with the SLI option open for later on.

depends on WHAT games; $35 for a game just isn't worth it half the time. and whatever overclocks a 7950 can go a 670 can.  

In terms of speed, power efficiency, price you have to go with the 670.

The 7950 needs to drop to arond 350 before I would consider recommending it. At that price two 7950 OC to ~1000 Mhz would be quite awesome, but right now 670 is the best option.

2 x Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB: $390

I agree, $350 would be a deal breaker.

Would the 660 2Win be 3GB or 1.5GB (do they double gpu only, or the vram also)? The 460 and 560 2wins disabled (or had no driver support from nvidia) the sli bridge if you wanted to buy two 2wins, any chance they will support sli for the 600 series?

With only a single card you won't need more then 2gb multi monitoring or not as of now.