Agreed. OP: Ignore the blather about Nvidia being superior. As a gamer, the only thing Nvidia has over AMD right now is PhysX. Something that's only available within a limited number of games, and is still enjoyable for most AMD users. I play with Medium PhysX just fine - and honestly I find its supposed greatness to be a little exaggerated even when it's on high with a 'capable' system.
Not faster, It use PhysX on the cpu and cause a thread stall as it is coded with feet ( when nvidia or developpers will understand, it is stupid to force the use of a cpu thread allready used for use by standard process and push the PhysX instructions on it, forcing the thread to wait it is free for do his normal work) . And in the second case ( GTX680 ) it use Nvidia PhysX by the GPU... Peoples buy what they think they need: If he play BL2 and think he need Nvidia PhysX, why not... if he play mostly BF3, Dirt, Hitman, FarCry3, Crysis2-3, or need computing stuff etc... different choice.. If he like better Nvidia or AMD he's choice. Anyway: 2 things i will change in your list: - Motherboard: the Sabertooth is a bit overpriced for features who are not specially needed ( not a bad board, but the thermal features dont look to be really effective, and are not really needed with last Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge ( who dont have the NB who is really hot as it was with the 1366 I7 9xx series ). - PSU: 620W is a bit short, try have a 700-750W min for have a good margin ( PSU will be more silent as not in the high range, efficiency will be better, and like this if you upgrade component you will not end to short and need change it )
OP a few things to consider as posted before if you want to save a bit of coin dont go with teh sabertooth get something along the lines of a z77 extreme 4 or the asus p8z77v-pro, on the GPU side the 680 is a waste of money IMHO if you want to go green get a 670 DCUII or 670 WF3 same performance $100 less if you don't mind the red teem go with a 7970 like a Vapor-X or DCUII they tend to scale better when overclocked than the keplers anyways, and last but not least is there any specific reason you want the H100 because the minor overclock you are planing can easily be done with a hyper 212+ which is about $60 less. This sir is truth unfiltered.
Ok, so the general consensus is that I should go with a cheaper MB. As for the GPU, it seems that it's just an opinion thing and I should just get which ever one I like. And as for overclocking my CPU, I want to push it as high as possible without hurting or stressing it too much. So the only thing now that I'd plan to change is the MB to a cheaper AS Rock. Also I'll look into ram and SSDs for just a bit longer now and I might change them to the suggested models. Is the 620W PSU enough, I originally thought it'd be plenty, but a few people say otherwise. Is this all enough to run Minecraft though? JK. I'm hoping this will last me a minimum of 5 years though and still be able to run the latest titles well up t'ill then. Can't say I did't expect a GPU battle. I've no real preference to either one, the NVIDIA just seems right for me Thank you all for the help! .
It's not an opinion or GPU battle, you said you wanted to overclock the GPU, the 7950/7970 overclock better and cost less than the 670/680. Quite a few people have told you this...but in the end it's up to you.
See but that's the part I feel kinda in the dark about cause I've heard equally convincing arguments from both sides and I have no idea which one I should believe. The way you have told me Radeon is better for overclocking, others have told me NVIDIA is better for this. I just do not know.
I don't know where you heard that but nobody on this forum is going to tell you Nvidia overclocks better. 7 people in this thread have told you to go with 7950/70, if you still aren't sure then I don't think we can help you.....
And I'm an Nvidia user but not blind Pill is right on this OP of you want to overclock your GPU extensively then AMD, Nvidia is great for those who just want to throw a GPU in their rig and go.
OP I'm no fanboy btw, I loved my 8800GTX prob best card I've ever owned...not gonna twist your arm here, we've given you the advice that's all we can do.
AMD on top?? Be careful alanm, with these types of comments you open yourself up to a barrage of bologna from Nvidia/Intel fans all over the site lol. I happen to agree with you in regards to GPU's, as AMD seems to have the better price to performance right now. I used to use Nvidia all of the time, but I switched about 5 years ago and haven't seen reason to revert since. The recent 650ti definitely didn't impress and AMD overclocks every bit as well (if not better) than Nvidia. I have my 6850 matching a 6870 atm. Anyway, I am off topic now. ASRock ftw and you'll have yourself quite a system over there.
Ok so then I think I'll take your advise on the Radeon then. Thank again for the help! Same with the MB.
You can ask anyone here who has a 7950 or 7970 they'll all say the same thing - the overclocking headroom on these cards is almost too good to be true. This is my 7950 at stock clocks: And this is overclocked: The Physics score is low because of my CPU. That's a 250Mhz increase on the core and 450Mhz memory (6800Mhz effective). The 7970 has even more potential. In contrast the most I could get with my 6950 was 125mhz core increase and 75Mhz memory. Here is an overclocked GTX680 score posted in the benchmark section....look at the graphics score on both screenshots....
620-650W PSU will be more than enough for overclocked system with single video card. Seasonic M12II is good, but Seasonic X is better and now costs the same as M12II. 90$ discount. Get it while it's cheap. It's a top-notch 80+ Gold fully modular unit. If you're planning to add a second video card 750-850W unit would be recommended. RAM is ok. Just ok. Agility 3 SSD is not ok.
