Is this a good gaming PC for under $1500?

I'm a bit biased towards the 7970 especially for the things you get by spending a couple bucks more (great overclocking headroom, more VRAM) but a 670 is great purchase as well and it's usually cheaper too.

I would just like to point out that you don't need 850W unless you're planning on multi-GPU afterwards (which 850W is still too high but not a bad rating at that point). If you're sticking with a single GPU solution, 550-600W is more than enough. I recommend the Corsair HX650W or the TX550M if you want to save some extra money

Another thing, while the Hyper 212 EVO is a great low cost cooler, you probably could only get as high as 4.5GHz (4.6GHz could be possible but temps will probably be around 80 degrees by then) since Ivy Bridge runs pretty hot once you add some voltage to it. If you want temps to be lower, maybe find a better cooler. Otherwise, it's fine.

7970 beats the 670 in general, but nowadays it seems the 670 is a bit cheaper. I'd probably go with a 670 (get the Gigabyte version, it has better cooling).

Other thoughts:
- You don't need anywhere near 850W to run that rig. Downgrade to a 750W and try to get either the HX or AX series - or look into Seasonic 750W or XFX 750W. You can most likely find one of those for nearly the same price but fully modular (except the HX 750, which is partially modular). 750W is plenty to run two 7970s or 670s plus overclocking.
- You don't need 16GB RAM. Get 2x4GB, and get the low-profile Corsair Vengeance 1600 to avoid any potential issues with your heatsink.
- You don't have a case listed, just a reminder to factor that into your price. You'll want at least a mid-tower with plenty of room for cable management. I recommend the CoolerMaster HAF series.
- Finally, depending on where you live, you can save quite a bit of money by buying your CPU and MOBO at a Microcenter. Of course, if you don't have one near you then this doesn't apply.

Good luck!

^ It's a CM storm trooper

Which cooler would be a better option? Thanks for the help!
Here's the small modifications: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vjAf
I'll update the first post with it too.
I was told by a couple friends to try Microcenter for everything ha

The Scythe Mugen-2 is nice step up from the Hyper 212 so I can easily recommend them. To get even better cooling performance afterwards you'll have to pay even more that unless you're doing high overclocking, is not worth it very much.

Which one is that?
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/cpu-cooler/#m=79&sort=a5

Thanks

It's this one http://pcpartpicker.com/part/scythe-cpu-cooler-scmg3100

Right now I have two going:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vjG5

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vjKc

I prefer the latter, this one http://pcpartpicker.com/p/vjKc because I prefer the 7970 over the 670 but seriously, any one of those two is a great choice and you really can't go wrong with either of them

get the 7970

I probably wouldn't use Microcenter for everything - you can often find deals on other components that will beat their prices (although they do have a pricematch policy, or used to anyway). Certainly check their prices on all your components, but the real value they deliver is the CPU price and CPU+MOBO combo deals.

It's interesting how Rockdpm and others that have GTX 670/680 suggest 7970 over it. Yet my friends all seem to think the GTX is the better option... Hmm...
Maybe I should go all out and get this GTX 680 4GB ha: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

That Scythe CPU Cooler Fan is no longer available, anyone that could reccomend another good one for a decent price? Or should I just stick with the Evo, as it's common and I recently met someone at microcenter that runs it just fine in her setup which will be close to mine.

The Evo is a great cooler at a good price. I'd stick with it.