Well Im goin through the same thing right now, and I can tell you what ive managed to dig up. First thing, the 7970 is the best value/performance card on the market right now. The nvidia 680 some will say is a little faster, but comparing the two side by side, you're not likely to tell the difference between the two. If you dont really have a budget, go grab your self a 7990 or the 690. There both 1000 dollars, but there tier 1 gpu's. But if if you dont have a budget, have you considered upgrading your current cpu and motherboard?