660ti + CPU watercooling or 670 with stock CPU cooling

I can only afford one option.

Right now my system specs are:

Intel I7 3770K with Stock cooler.
Asus z77 Sabertooth motherboard.
Crucial Ballistix Elite 2133mhz 8GB
Crucial m4 128GB SSD
Rosewill 750W Gold Certified Capstone Modular Power Supply.
Asus 27" 1080P 1920X1080 resolution VW246 60hz Monitor
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Edition.

Right now I am leaning towards getting a EVGA 660ti FTW Signature 2 Edition card for 300$ + Corsair H80i (its a new version coming out soon) all in one CPU water cooler for 85$.

My other option is to just use the stock CPU cooler and get an EVGA 670 FTW for around the same price 385$

I am not sure what the bigger benefit will be, overclocking my CPU to like 4.5ghz or getting a slightly better graphics card. I plan to play the latest first person shooters like Arma 3, Planetside 2, maybe Elder Scrolls Online when it releases, Dragon Age 3 when it releases, etc.

Yes my budget is so tight that I cant swing even 100$ one way or the other.

Does overclocking the CPU give you any significant gaming benefits nowadays? I havent overclocked my CPU since like the Athlon days.

i would get the 670,you can always get a h80 down the road for under $100 were as you wouldn't want to have the replace the 660 once you got it.

670

i run my 3770k stock and 7970 stock but sometimes i oc but mostly run everything stock and i do get more fps oc but stock is still very much playable at 1080p

Count me in as voting for the 670.

I figured that was the answer I would get.

The 660TI got so much good praise when it was released, now everyone is treating it like that 192 bit cheapo 670GTX.

I wish Nvidia would drop its high end prices back down to pre 2005 levels where 350$ got you the best video card. This 400-500$ trend for graphics cards is kind of ridiculous imo. Wouldn't they sell a ton more in bulk? People would probably upgrade more if it was more affordable to do so.

*shrug*

The 660Ti is an excellent card, it's just that a GTX670 will gain you more FPS than a higher CPU OC will in most circumstances.

Implement said:

I figured that was the answer I would get.

The 660TI got so much good praise when it was released, now everyone is treating it like that 192 bit cheapo 670GTX.

I wish Nvidia would drop its high end prices back down to pre 2005 levels where 350$ got you the best video card. This 400-500$ trend for graphics cards is kind of ridiculous imo. Wouldn't they sell a ton more in bulk? People would probably upgrade more if it was more affordable to do so.

*shrug*

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you would think so, but even at $600 the GTX 680 was sold out of stock everywhere for months.

I would recommend a 7950 or 7970 if you're not avoiding AMD.