been out of the game too long

[papaschtroumpf]

I haven't bought a graphic card in several years and I'm out of the loop. I'm working on a $1200-ish system

I started with the "baseline" recipe from Maximum PC at: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/maximum_pc_recommended_september_2012

CPU: i5 3570
Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 (not the one recommended by maximum PC, this one was cheaper)
RAM: 8G Patriot/1600
Power supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650 (also not Maximum PC's choice)
Samsung 128G SSD

I run a dual monitor setup,
1600x1200 older Dell Monitor, has DVI input but I don;t think it has HDMI
1950x1200 Samsung Monitor.

I generally game on the larger monitor and use the 2nd monitor for reference, etc... so the game usually doesn't span both monitors.

Maximum PC recommends a Gigabyte GTX 660 Ti Power Edition but I can't find an exact match on Newegg.
Also when I search google I keep coming across the term 1080p gaming, which I think assumes you are gaming on an HDTV, not a monitor, or two, like I do.

My current game of choice is Guild Wars 2, which I would like to be able to run at 1950x1200 with all the eye-candy on. Also I PvP on that game and my current system has some serious lag, so I don't want to skimp too much, without going overkill.
I also play some FPS, Left for Dead 2 being the most current.

So, with that background, is Maximum PC's GTX660 Ti Power Edition the right choice for me?

Someone at work suggested an GTX 670 but they're about $100 more and some review seemed to imply the "power" edition GTX 600 are just as good?

 

[videogames101]

Best overlocking memory for the price: Here

Looks like a GTX 660 Ti would fall around 60 average fps at 1080p. The corresponding AMD card would be the 7950, and while it's not included in the chart, when they are both overclocked the 7950 will be +/- a few percent on the 660 Ti. I'd shop by price :thumbsup:

 

[papaschtroumpf]

The benchmark above is 1920x1089, not 1920x1200.
I can't find the article anymore, but I think I read that the higher the resolution, the more the 7950 won over the 660 Ti

I'm currently looking at :
$290for 7950: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150616 (Edited, this 7950 card seems like a better deal than the previous I had linked, especially since it had $8 shipping)

$300 for 600Ti: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127696

I noticed the 7950 has 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 instead of 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 for the 660Ti. Meaningfull difference for my setup (including the dual monitor) or marketing hype?


also, I'm looking at this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811352024 so obviously silent operation is important to me. Will the 7950 fit in that case, and which card is quietest?

 

[blastingcap]

Do you plan to oc and overvolt? because if not, power edition is limited in usefulness

 

[papaschtroumpf]

probably not TBH, at least not at first
Does this mean you recommend the 7950?

 

[blastingcap]

No, the 7950 also depends on oc to be its best