Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Vapor-X GHz Edition 3GB vs other 7970's?

[MX5J6]

I think I will go with this RAM and the MoBo you suggested with the NH-D14, I think I saw a video before with the same ram and cooler and it seems to fit perfectly. This may cost me at least an extra $200 but benching (something I thought about but never really considered until you brought it up tbh) seems like it would be worth it. i really wanted to build a beast of a machine and i think the extra money will be worth it for a better mobo/awesome GPU for high end gaming and benching.

I think this forums and you and ED have really brought my rig some new life before I spent the money on it and didn't get it to do everything I wanted and more. So with my specs looking like this (will change my sig in a bit) is there anything else you'd suggest?

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit OEM
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two
MoBo: ASUS Maximus V FORMULA LGA 1155 Intel Z77
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 1600
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz Quad-Core
GPU: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Lightning 2GB
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 7200RPM
PSU: Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750 V2
HSF: Noctua NH-D14
ODD: LG DVD Burner OEM

 

[EarthDog]

Its a shame you dont have an SSD for at least a 'system' OS... Id rather have the TFII 680 and a small SSD personally..

(it doesnt get easy does it MX? )

 

[Janus67]

That looks like a really great system there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

is a set of RAM made for the i-series processors and should have XMP profiles built in that may work better. it likely won't make a difference, but figured I would put that out there.

Other than that the system looks truly excellent, very nice build you have going on there

I can't remember - what resolution do you plan on using?

 

[MX5J6]

lol Grr, you might be right on that one. With the TFIII I could afford a small OS SSD. Hmm, would be nice. How much of a difference in stable OCing would the unlocked voltage of the Lightning offer over the TFIII. As in, would I still be able to get some good benches in with the TFIII over the Lightning? because I don't want to spend this much more on a rig if I can't do what i want to do.

2560x1440.

 

[EarthDog]

As mentioned before, its a crap shoot... even with the lightning there is a small chance that the TFII would out overclock it (small chance). But even so the difference isnt that much. 50Mhz difference doesnt translate to a FPS that is noticeable.

If you are benchmarking (first of all, join the benchmarking team!) and not playing games then the Lightning is the way to go. If you are playing games, synthetic benchmarks do not matter

 

[Janus67]

I would leave that question for someone that has used a 680 lightning (I did briefly, but it was under LN2 where all of the features/locks are pretty much turned off). I believe the extra voltage would allow for a higher overclock, but because of how boost clocks work with the cards the card has to be cool enough to hit those boost clocks.
http://www.overclockers.com/msi-gtx680-lightning-review


The video card should be just fine at that resolution

 

[MX5J6]

So are you saying that benching and playing games means i shouldn't join the bench team? Or am i getting that wrong? lol because as much as i would be playing games benching seems like something i would be interested in as well.

 

[Janus67]

So are you saying that benching and playing games means i shouldn't join the bench team? Or am i getting that wrong? lol because as much as i would be playing games benching seems like something i would be interested in as well.

He is saying that the two are similar but different. 50mhz in overall clock speed doesn't make much of a difference in a game, but in a benchmark that little extra bit can make the difference in points/rankings.

All are welcome to check out the benchmarking team, and it doesn't take the absolute newest hardware either as old hardware has their own rankings as well.

 

[EarthDog]

Im saying the same thing I said before. If you are in to benchmarking or want to get in to it, the 680 Lightning is the way to go. If you want to just benchmark to get a score but mainly play games, there is no point in the Lightning.

Like janus said, plenty of other hardware out there to bench too.

Honestly, I would just grab the TFII, see if you can swing a small SSD and see where you are at. We can go in circles forever as you can see.

 

[MX5J6]

I see now, thank you two for clearing that up. What is a good, cheap yet reliable SSD you'd recommend I get for my OS? because I will mainly be playing games, but benching does seem like something i am also interested in and I think it will still be worth it to bench with the TFIII. Plus i don't have to worry about taking the reactor off the Lightning since the TFIII should fit perfectly if i decide to SLI sometime in the future.

 

[EarthDog]

120GB Vertex 3, $95 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

 

[Janus67]

Great deal there, and $85 after MIR.

 

[MX5J6]

I just hope it doesn't change price by the time i am ready to order. lol

 

[EarthDog]

/ OT

Amazing the plethora of sub $1/GB SSD's isnt it?

/ OT

 

[MX5J6]

Ok so that brings me to about $1790-$350= $1440. Not too bad. Need an extra $300 give or take. I have some stuff i really need to sell. 90's Transformers and a bike so i can easily get that $300 if I can sell some old stuff i have been meaning to get rid of. lol Hooray for being a horder! i knew it would come in handy someday.

 

[MX5J6]

Ok so i have just run into a slight problem. My case is only meant for standard ATX at the most and the new mobo is E-ATX so I guess I will need to find a different case. Hopefully not one too much more expensive. >.<

 

[EarthDog]

Asrock Z77 Extreme 4. You dont need a monster board like that that Formula really.

Giga UD5H...

Choose your poison.

 

[MX5J6]

Wait that's right, i don't need the extra slots because i am not getting the reactor GPU, duh. I am stupid sometimes. lol

Only thing is i think I need to buy another SATA cable because the E4 seems to come with 2 but i need 3 for my SSD, HDD and ODD. Not a problem.

Would this be fine?

 

[MX5J6]

I never did ask a pretty obvious question when choosing my GPU. I probably won't change it, depending on what you guys say though who knows what could happen. All i know is this will not go on 3 more pages. lol Just wanted some simple answers to a few questions.

From what you guys know, would a 7970 or a 680 be better for benching?

Which brand/cooler would you recommend for the best possible benching? I don't know tons about liquid or sub-zero cooling and am kind of scared to get into them right now. XD Not sure there's anything to be scared of but still. So on stock cooling which would perform the best in a bench situation?

So, should I stick with the 680 TFIII or would something like the 7970 Vapor-X be better for benching? I heard that 7970's have more headroom in OC even if it is just by a small amount. I would like to make benching a regular part of my new rig's life as I don't game 24/7.

Mostly I game maybe a few hours a day, but not always everyday. So benching may become a big thing for me.

Hope I am not annoying people by now with all my questions and whatnot. lol

 

[I.M.O.G.]

For benching, a 7970 would be better by far. 680's can put up good numbers, but its much more complicated to make them really sing.