Please help me choose! need help fast!

[CanSoKo]

my budget is $200 for a video card, here is my setup for FYI (canadian prices)

I5-3570k
asus HD 7850 ($219.99)
P8Z77-V-LK
CORSAIR VEGEANCE 8GB
CM HYPER 212 PLUS
CRUCIAL M4 128 GB

- now i was originally going for the

ASUS Radeon HD 7850 860MHZ 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=69864&vpn=HD7850-DC2-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS

- then i seen

ASUS Radeon HD 7850 V2 860MHZ DirectCU II 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=76127&vpn=HD7850-DC2-2GD5-V2&manufacture=ASUS

1/ FIRST QUESTION. WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIRECT CU II? IS IT BETTER?

- Then i seen these for the same price and ranked higher on cpu benchmark

EVGA GeForce GTX 480 700MHZ 1536MB GDDR5 2xDVI Mini-HDMI PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.ca/search/?categoryid=0&q=gtx+480

vs

ASUS Radeon HD 7870 1000MHZ 2GB 4.8GHZ GDDR5 DVI HDMI 2XMINIDP PCI-E Video Card
http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=69863&vpn=HD7870-DC2-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS

2/ which is better?

ASUS 7850 $214.99
ASUS 7850 (directcu II) $214.99
ASUS 7870 $219.99
EVGA GTX 480 $179.99

 

[drums101]

between the two 7850's really the main difference is the display outputs...the second one has two dvi ports hdmi and full sized displayport...the first card has one dvi two mini dp ports and a hdmi....if i were choosing between the two I would get the second card dvi is more popular....also I would get a 7850 over a 480 any day but of all of the cards I would get the 7870 for 5 dollars more without a doubt....go for the 7870 that is a really good deal.

 

[CanSoKo]

thank you, i managed to find directcu ii info, didnt really understand it, something to do with direct copper, that only relate to dual video cards to help cool it or something?

i decided with the 7870 it out did the 480 for texel, even thow CPU benchmark had it rated higher overall.

just wondered if there was a 7870 directcu II and if i needed it in the long run.

thanks again for the info.

 

[drums101]

the directcu II is just the type of cooler that asus puts on there...they brand it that its really nothing crazy or necessary...it appears that the 7870 you picked out has that type of cooler too....it doesnt hurt but every brand has their own type of cooler

 

[Deemo13]

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121651

That one from Newegg is cheaper than the ones you were looking at, just fyi.

 

[benski]

I believe all the asus 78xx cards use the direct cu II cooler, they just only listed it in the title of one of those 7850s. It's just a marketing name for their cooler, it's better than stock but not signifigantly better than any other manufacturers 2 fan custom cooler. The 7870 is definately worth the extra 5 bucks.