So, if it was your money...

[StreekG]

Personally if it was my money i would go the 680, regardless that you are spending less, you are getting a slower card, extra 50 dollars doesn't phase me to get something faster.

 

[Ibanez81]

slower card?

 

[killablade]

I've just gone with the Asus HD7970 DirectCU II TOP. It's looks epic, runs very cool, and it's quiet. GTX680 availability is horrid (at least it is where I live) and I managed to pick this up for 450 euros including shipping. That's 20 euros cheaper than the cheapest reference GTX680 I could find, and like I said those aren't even in stock. The shops that do have them charge at least 520 euros for one. So the way I see it, picking up a custom 7970 like the Asus DirectCU II is the way to go atm.

 

[Master&Puppet]

I had the same decision, and just bought a Sapphire 7950 OC for £315. As Tom's review said, it overclocks like a beast, is cool and quiet and plays all the latest games with ease. It was a no brainer. These also scale in CF very well for when you need some more power at a later date

Aah, decisions decisions. I'd just sold myself on the Sapphire 7970 OC, until I saw how similar the 7950 is when overclocked.

Alas, I think AMD have won this one - 7950 it is.

As much as I would love to side with the nVidia team, the price and performance of the 7950 is just too strong. Especially with the Sapphire cooler, which is near silent. If I play a game with lots of Physics I shall just have to rely on an Ivy Bridge CPU clocked at around 4.7 GHz - if that's not sufficient then I don't know what is

Thankyou all.

I don't think there is a better decision to be made at the moment. I have sapphire 7950s too.

 

[Coxey]

7950 Sapphire OC. So popular and highly rated, I don't think you can go wrong. From what I can see, it'll run most if not all games near or at maximum settings comfortably (not optimally, comfortably...). When OC'd further it'd match, if not go beyond the competition.