Graphics card question

I've found that it's either clock speeds or cooler design differences. On new egg I just set the sort to Lowest price then search for say ...7870 and mark the lowest price, then search for 7950....then 7970. Look at the price gap and decide which I can afford. From there it's a matter of brand preference really. If you are willing to overclock on your own then the factory clock doesn't matter much. Not that it matters a whole lot anyway.

Thanks for the reply, will i need a better CPU if i go for anything above a 7870? I'm ordering a i3-3225

Edit: I've got an i3-3220 and I was about to buy a 7970 right up until someone offered me a GTX 560 Ti for $120. Figured I'd overclock the hell out of it for a while then upgrade when prices drop a bit more. I'm not sure how much processor you would need to keep up with a faster card but my guess is that a 7970 with an i3 3220 is still gonna be hella fast. If at some point down the road you feel that the processor is too much of a bottleneck, upgrade to an i5 as it comes down in price.