thefallan

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Which graphics card should I pick? I have around 300 dollars and it will be for gaming. I am thinking about possibly a ge force, asus, or msi 660ti or possibly even a 7950 graphics card. you input would be very helpful.
 
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My favorits from best down to 6th choise.

1.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202007 This Sapphire card comes with higher than stock clocks and it has "Sapphire FleX Technology". You can read about FleX Here: http://www.sapphiretech.com/Flex/FleX_Eng_apply.html If you don't plan on running 3 monitors you cont need FleX so #2 is the best choice.

2.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003 This Sapphire card comes with even higher clocks and it has the better Vapor-X cooling solution. It is also important to note that both of these cards have dual DVI ports. I single link and I dual link DVI. A single link can support a 1920x1080 resolution @ 60 Hz. A dual link DVI supports 2560x1600 @...

MC_K7

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What's your PSU? CPU? Motherboard? What resolution are you using? What games will you be playing?

It's nice to get a 300$ video card but if it's bottlenecked by other components or way too overkill for the games you'll be playing or resolution you're using it will be like throwing money out the window.

You can also look at Tom's Hardware Best Cards for the Money monthly articles to help decide:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html
 

Idonno

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A comparison of these cards here: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/647?vs=550 shows that while they trade some blows back and forth the 7950 is clearly the superior card overall. :sol:
 

Idonno

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My favorits from best down to 6th choise.

1.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202007 This Sapphire card comes with higher than stock clocks and it has "Sapphire FleX Technology". You can read about FleX Here: http://www.sapphiretech.com/Flex/FleX_Eng_apply.html If you don't plan on running 3 monitors you cont need FleX so #2 is the best choice.

2.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003 This Sapphire card comes with even higher clocks and it has the better Vapor-X cooling solution. It is also important to note that both of these cards have dual DVI ports. I single link and I dual link DVI. A single link can support a 1920x1080 resolution @ 60 Hz. A dual link DVI supports 2560x1600 @ 60Hz and 120Hz for 1920x1080 as well as lower resolutions and refresh rates. 120Hz is what you need for 3D

3.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127667

4.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414

5.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414

6.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131478

I don't have to much to say about these last four cards other than the fact that IMO the MSI Twin Frozr takes a clear 3rd place due to it having better clocks than the last three and hopefully a better cooling solution than the last three as well.

I consider all of these cards to be good cards but, I do think the first two are well ahead of the rest and worth the extra $30. Just keep in mind that at $329 you are only $40 - $50 away from a 7970. :sol:
 
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thefallan

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It is between the msi twin frozr, gigabyte radeon, and the SAPPHIRE Vapor-X. I would like just a bit more input just to make sure, i compared them and they dont look to be very different in speed. The prices are almost the same too so any addtional input would be nice. Also this kind of hits on my earlier question i found this forum on the 660ti vs 7950 amd graphics card debate:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/388418-33-entering-daily-660ti-7950-discussions

I would like to know why there is such a debate if the cards are not really that much different and which one i should get for what im doing which is primarily gaming.
 

Idonno

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The SAPPHIRE Vapor-X has the highest clocks, The best cooling solution and with the exception of the Sapphire FleX the best connectivity and it's only $10 more than the msi twin frozr.
True MSI has the afterburner tweak utility but, Sapphire has the Trixx tweak utility.

Sapphire is also well known to be very over clockable.

Some quotes from the Newegg reviews:

"1160 / 1450 stock voltage. hardly gets over 60*C under max load with default fan settings"

"OC's like a champion. 1150/1350 on stock voltage currently"

"Easy overclock. Sitting at 1150 Core and 1425 memory as a quick test and it is stable at stock voltage"

"Cool, Quiet, Fast, Overclocks easily (I love that it is literally DESIGNED to overclock!)"

"This 7950 OC will blow away any game on the market right now, no problem"

And keep in mind that just like with MSI afterburner with the Trixx tweak utility you can up the voltage to OC even more! :sol: