EVGA 3GB GTX 660 ti Superclocked or 3GB 7950 Sapphire Vapour - X

Louis Coates

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Mar 20, 2013
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Wondering which I should go for with my build, value is important but not essential, I intend to play on RTS, Skyrim, Farcry not so much FPS but a little BF3. It's going to be at 1080p on 1980 x 1080 (will be moving to 2560 x 1440 in the future). I'll most likely have two monitors too, oh and I live in the UK :)

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated this is my first build from scratch but I've done gfx/mobo/CPU upgrades, I'm currently on an Athlon Dual core CPU so any things an increase :).

My rig is
CPU - i5 3570k
Mobo - ASrock Fatal1ty Proffesional
RAM - Corsair Vengance 8GB low profile DDR3 1600MHz
PSU - Corsair Enthusiast 750W
HDD - 1TB WD Caviar Black SATA III
SSD - 128 GB OCZ Agility
Case - NZXT Phantom Enthusiast White Red Stripe (bought)
Cooler - NZXT Kraken x60
Pretty much all of this will be bought from Scan.
My budget is 1100-200 but there's wiggle room.

Thanks :).
 

thesupergeek

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Mar 19, 2013
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great cpu. one of my desktops has the same and it rocks! as for a gpu i would suggest a 560ti or a gtx 670. both of those are really good for a (ok) price for value. if you are more concerned with price i would go for the 560. but preformance would be better on a 670.
 

darkspartenwarrior

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Jan 15, 2013
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For one 3GB on a GTX660Ti is useless because it will turn into a laggy mess far before 3GB is used, because of the 192-bit bus, if you're going for a 660Ti, go with a 2GB version.

Secondly the 7950 is faster, especially when overclocked, and it will serve you better in the future with 2560x1440 and if you plan to eyefinity.
 

Louis Coates

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Mar 20, 2013
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Yeah I was already leaning towards the 7950 as I will be overclocking and I'm not sure if I want to pay the extra for a 670.

The only thing that was holding me back with the aftermarket cooler designs, they don't go with my whole red/black theme. But that's only a small issue.
 

darkspartenwarrior

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121716

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

if you're going to overclock I don't reccomend the Powercolor, function over form :). However the ASUS is great at cooling and is also red+black.
 

Louis Coates

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Mar 20, 2013
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Thanks :) yeah I was looking at the ASUS, everyone on the Internet swears by the sapphire vapour x but for the performance difference I don't know whether its worth making my rig look awful.
 

darkspartenwarrior

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The 7950 Vapor-X is actually pretty bad, it's voltage locked, and has terrible VRM cooling(though the 7970 Vapor-X is superb, maybe they were mistakenly referring to those?).

The best sapphire 7950 is the Dual-X Boost, it has great cooling and is voltage unlocked with great VRM cooling, its 270 bucks now too.
 

Louis Coates

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Mar 20, 2013
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Ah, no that's just me being mistaken it was the 7970's I was looking at but couldn't justify the price jump.
Yeah I think I've made my mind up (eventually) thanks for all your help :)