I have read so many reviews and there are so many conflicting ideas on which to pick regarding AMD and NVidia that when it comes to two GPU's it is mind bottling (lol).
The plan: run games at highest specs on my 2560 x1440p monitor. The two main contenders are the Radeon 7970 and the GTX 670. Now the waters get a bit muddied when talking about custom coolers, different brands, warranties, etc, because they all matter but performance comes first. I MAY watercool in the coming future but for now I am undecided (if I get the Corsair 800d as I plan to then watercooling will absolutely happen.)
The games I play are Crysis 3, Diablo 3, Mass Effect 3, Dead Space 3, Dragon Age 1 and 2, Guild Wars 2, Battlefield 3, Star Wars The Old Republic, and the big one I play most is World Of Warcraft.
Now I want to point out first that I had 7970's crossfired in my old system and Mists of Pandaria actually ate the two cards up with the game dropping to as low as 34 fps at points. That is INSANE for two of the big dog cards. I see lots of reviews say how great they are supposed to be in WoW but it just didn't really play that way (could have been mobo but not sure).
I am also pretty sure I will have to run multi GPU to push this big of resolution at max settings so I am prepared for the costs associated. Also, call it ridiculous, but I have built a pretty solid X79 system and would like everything to match my blue/purple, white, and black color scheme if possible.
OK so here are the options:
1) USED but in perfect shape Evga GTX 690 for $800. Has the 2GB per card of ram and the green lighting on the "GEFORCE GTX" actually correlates with the Motherboards green LED's.
2) New EVGA GTX 670 (the stock model and cooler) at $319 per card so the SLI setup cost would be $638. These are the 2GB models and are at stock clocks. The white on the cooler looks nice as well with the rest of the system.
3) New XFX 7970 Black Edition w/DD cooler at $385 or for crossfire setup is $770. These are overclocked from factory and are the standard 3GB memory. These have the red strip in the top are which does not match but I could hopefully find something to cover up the red. *****I have these in the box still and wanted some information before I order something else if its needed*****
Now I'm not opposed to even a different suggestion but these seem to be the best options I have run across. The reason I chose the XFX for the 7970 is because the cooler is actually of good quality and the card/cooler doesn't look cheap as hell. I am not wanting something to last 8 years but also now 3 moths so Ill just buy new hardware when I need it if this outfit becomes sub-par to my expectations.
Any help would be spectacular and thanks in advance!
*****System Specs*****
MB-Intel DX79SI
CPU-Intel Core I7 3820 3.6ghz but will be at 4.5ghz
CPU Cooler- Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo
RAM-Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR1600
PSU-Corsair HX-850
SSD-OCZ 120GB
HDD-WD Caviar Black 1.5TB
Corsair 600T White case.