Quiet and 4 Year Lasting Fine

[Tjj226_Angel]

It's not much more to a GTX 680, so at this pricing point I would spend the few extra bones.

 

As far as GTX 670 vs 7970 I would go with the GTX 670 all day. The ASUS DCII is a great video and probably the best 670 you can get, but it is also the biggest card making SLI a little more annoying. So if I was going SLI, I would go with a two Gigabyte GTX 670s for the slimmer profile.

 

Though I still would go with a 1 GTX 680 instead of SLI or CF. No need to introduce more noise, heat and driver concerns unless really needed. One GTX 680 would last me 4 years no problem. Two cards isn't a guarantee you will stay above 100 FPS for a few years. Though if you can afford it and want, I would go with this x2. ($40 off per card - $360 each)

 

While I agree, the only issue is the OP wants to drive his 120hz monitor. The GTX 680 can't push that on it's own on a game like BF3 (on ultra) and it certainly won't do that on crysis 3 or other future games. Even with the GTX 7970 it will be a bit hard to push high FPS on future games among several other issues that are inherent with CF, or SLI for that matter.

 

Here is what I will say. OP, if you are someone who can actually tell the difference between 60hz and 120hz than I suggest looking at getting two regular 7970s to save money, and use that money towards water cooling. Elcaptain has reported some really good OC results from the gigabyte windforce card.

 

However, if you have already been playing on 60FPS and you don't know the difference between 60hz and 120hz, then look at getting a catleap 2560x1440 IPS monitor and get the GTX 680 4gb card like fogel is saying. I would get the higher resolution screen before a faster screen, but that is up to you.

 

If you do end up doing SLI or CF, then I would go to x79 with a i7 3820. If you get the gigabyte x79 up4, then the price difference should somewhat balance out (meaning that it won't raise your bill tooooo much.)

 

Also, try getting 2 2tb drives fro raid 1 instead of raid 0. If you already have 512GB of raid zeroy goodness than your storage doesn't need to be fast at all. That is why it would be wayyyyy better to focus on data security for storage, rather than speed.

 

For the ram, get some samsung 4gb dimms. You can OC them to corsair ram specs, without having to spend a boat load on ram.

 

Also, unless you are just in love with that cosmos case, it would be a much smarter idea to get the nzxt switch 810 and use the money you save to water cool your PC.

 

For the keyboard, all I will say is that it is a good keyboard, and it is your choice, but it would be much wiser to look at getting a keyboard that uses cherry mx blue switches than brown (or black, I forget which on the K90 uses).

 

Again, drop the nh-d14 and water cool, water cool, water cool!!!

 

For the gaming headsets...... again this is a personal choice, I would go with the asus vulcan http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826785024&name=Headsets-Accessories and a asus phoebus sound card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132054

 

Lastly, if you do love fast screens, asus will have some 144hz monitors coming out soon. I have no idea when, or what the price will be, but they are coming. OR you could try your luck with OCing a catleap monitor.

[vandreadstriker]

As far as GTX 670 vs 7970 I would go with the GTX 670 all day. The ASUS DCII is a great video and probably the best 670 you can get, but it is also the biggest card making SLI a little more annoying. So if I was going SLI, I would go with a two Gigabyte GTX 670s for the slimmer profile.

 

IIRC the DCII on the 670 is a 2 slot design, not the mammoth 2.5 slot design..

[Tjj226_Angel]

IIRC the DCII on the 670 is a 2 slot design, not the mammoth 2.5 slot design..

 

Yeup! I have the card myself, and there is absolutely no hang.

 

However I will say that the gigabyte card would be a smarter option for SLI or crossfire.

[Mikesnow]

I have 1 GTX 680 This One, and i run it on This Monitor and it has no problem running at 120hz.

[Tjj226_Angel]

I have 1 GTX 680 This One, and i run it on This Monitor and it has no problem running at 120hz.

 

That's great, but does it run crysis 2, BF3, Metro 2033 all at max with 100+ FPS like the OP wants?

[IVIYTH0S]

why has no one said 2x7950 for the ultimate value??

Edited October 18, 2012 by IVIYTH0S

[Heeron]

That's great, but does it run crysis 2, BF3, Metro 2033 all at max with 100+ FPS like the OP wants?

The OP didn't say all max. Just 100+ fps. Playing BF3 on high instead of ultra with a 680 you'll easily push 100+ fps.

[Fogel]

I say GTX 670 x2 if the OP has the money. Here are some links to show what it takes to get above 100 FPS in BF3.

 

• 
   
  
• BF3 - Single Cards
  
• BF3 - GTX 670 SLI results
  
• BF3 - Multiple Builds up to $2000 and their results (various GPU and CPU combinations)
  

Not saying take these to heart, but should give you an idea of what you will need for this project. Think the OP will like the last link, though it requires more time to read as it references previous articles.

[Mikesnow]

That's great, but does it run crysis 2, BF3, Metro 2033 all at max with 100+ FPS like the OP wants?

I don't really play those games so can't say for sure, but I runs Diablo 3, the secret world, torchlight 2, fine. I was having some issues in Diablo 3 because I went away from a DVI-D Dual Link cable to a singlr link as i was having a hard time finding one long enough locally and so it was giving me graphically issues as the card was trying to go to fast it seems. I ordered a dvi-d dual link online swapped it out and set up the monitor to 120hz and whola problem solved.

 

Just to add with tweeking I am Confadent I could get this card to run those games at that frame rate np, i'd prolly have to turn some stuff off, but it could be done. If your hardcore into it anyway your going to want to turn some of that mess that makes the game pretty any way, so you can see the enemy better and from farther away.

Edited October 19, 2012 by Mikesnow

[vandreadstriker]

why has no one said 2x7950 for the ultimate value??

 

Cause the 670 gives out more FPS than the 7950 at 1080p and the OP only wants good performance, not good performance/price (at least that's what I understand from the OP)

[Fogel]

I don't really play those games so can't say for sure, but I runs Diablo 3, the secret world, torchlight 2, fine.

 

Just to add with tweeking I am Confadent I could get this card to run those games at that frame rate np, i'd prolly have to turn some stuff off, but it could be done. If your hardcore into it anyway your going to want to turn some of that mess that makes the game pretty any way, so you can see the enemy better and from farther away.

My 570 runs Diablo 3 (graphics cranked to the max) over 100 FPS, same with Torchlight. BF3 and Metro are completely different stories though as I am running in the dirt with those games cranked to the max. Metro favors AMD cards so that doesn't help, but BF3 favors Nvidia cards.

 

Though I'm with you, if you are going to play a game like BF3 you are going to want to be competitive and no matter how good your current machine is the top graphix options always introduce latency and that is the last thing you need in a FPS. So I always turn some of the candy off - starting with MXAA/FXAA. Metro is single player but that game is rough to any single card configuration - if everything maxed. It's a decent game but how many people actually go back to play it reguarly? Seems more like a benchmark test game these days. I would be quite content with a single 670/680.