$1,500 gaming rig suggestions

So finally I must choose between the following:

1. ASUS GTX 670 DCII (Non TOP)
2. Zotact GTX 670 Amp!
3. Sapphire HD 7970 OC

All 3 are about the same price. Please advise.

A 7970 with the new 12.8 drivers delivers superior performance to the GTX 670, putting it on-par with the GTX 680 most of the time.

However, keep in mind that it will consume more power; the DualX cooler on the Sapphire OC edition is great though, and should keep it much cooler than the GTX 680.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7970-ghz-edition-review-benchmark,3232.html
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/06/22/amd-radeon-7970-3gb-ghz-edition-review/8
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6025/radeon-hd-7970-ghz-edition-review-catching-up-to-gtx-680/3

Rage, you've linked reviews of the GHZ Edition. The 7970 is available is the Sapphire OC Edition.

The Zotac GTX 670 Amp! has performance equal to or better than a stock GTX 680. However, it has a 3 slot design so I'm a litle weary in case I go for SLI. I really can't decide. Do help as I will be buying tomorrow morning.

The GHz edition is not much different from a 7970; the main difference is that the core clock runs at 1GHz as opposed to the 925MHz in a stock 7970, and there is a "boost" feature similar to the GPU Boost on NVIDIA GPUs.

The performance improvements will still apply, especially seeing that the second BIOS profile on the Sapphire 7970 OC effectively turns the card into a 7970GE.

If you'd like, wait for some input from DBZ or other members before deciding.

The only versions of 670 I've used have been reference designs and the Palit Jetstream. If the Gigabyte Windforce is anything like the GTX 680 and 580 versions if used it will be near dead silent and have good OC headroom. Having said that, if you can pick up a non-reference 7970 for the same price then you'll be getting a little more performance than the 670 - if it's the Vapor-X version (the one without the stupid G.I. Jane representation on the box art) then you'll be getting some good componentry under the cooling shroud as well. Sapphire cards with the cheapo build quality usually have a blue PCB, while the reference/high quality componentry cards have a black PCB.
Even the cheaper build quality card is going to have a good performance envelope- just be aware that Sapphire would reserve their better binned GPU's for the GHz edition, Vapor-X and Toxic cards if overclocking is on the agenda- so the "standard" 7970 now sits at 4th bin. Equal price looks a good deal though -Newegg have the 670 $20 cheaper than the 7970 -best case scenario, while locally the difference is 15% favouring the 670 (versus standard 7970) and 30% versus the boost/GHz version.

Hey guys!

Finally went and ordered all my stuff. Here's the final list:

CPU - Intel i5 3570K
Mobo - ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
PSU - Corsair TX 750 V2
RAM - G-Skill 2x 4GB Ripjaws (1600MHz)
Cooler - Corsair H100
Case - Corsair Obsidian 650D
SSD - Corsair Force Series GT (120GB)
GPU - ASUS GTX 670 DCII

And it all cost me less than I had estimated. Could have picked up the GTX 680 but decided against. Hope I don't regret it. How does it all look?

The GPU and SSD were not available today. They will all be delivered to my place on Tuesday.

Excellent!!

Looks like a good fit out - everything you need and nothing you don't. Should be a strong performer now, and for the foreseeable future.
Post a pic when it's alive and kicking.

All parts arrived today except for the SSD. That might take a day or two more. Looks like it's going to be an interesting build. Must say though, the Obsidian 650D looks like a monster compared to my CM 690! Will put up pics once the build is complete. For now a new thread on overclocking the CPU and GPU.

Well, just got done with the build about an hour back. All looks well.

Now, two things:

1. I managed to break the extended plastic portion of my PCI-E slot when trying to take out the card as it was not seated properly. Could there be any serious consequences?

2. Cable management was very difficult. The side of the case with the peripherals looks neat. However, the other side is quite a mess. Would love some inputs on this.

Pics will be up later.

1.
I hate the plastic tab since it tends to get in the way with large video cards; IIRC, it's to make sure the card doesn't get partly-dislodged while you're moving the PC.

Shouldn't be a problem; in fact, I know people who break it on purpose due to it being such a pain.

2.
Try standard or re-usable cable ties?

That's the whole point of cable management, the mess of cables is out of the way and won't interrupt air flow or aesthetics. If you really want to tidy it up then the case should come with some cable ties but this might be more trouble than it's worth if you frequently add/remove components.

Thank you everyone for the help and support! Very happy with the build. My vendor could not deliver the SSD yet so I'm running my 1TB Seagate HDD for now.

I played Crysis Warhead (Enthusiast Settings, 1600x900, 4xAA) and I get an average of 80 FPS. Ghost Recon Future Soldier with all settings maxed out and DX11 saw an average of 40-45 FPS in the first level and about 60 FPS in the second. The maximum temps on load were:

CPU - 49C
GPU - 59C

That good? Is there anything I need to test my system with to check for stability / benchmark before I begin OCing?

Temps look fine, though it's hard to make a comparitive call without knowing what the ambient temp is.
As for stability testing, it sounds like you're doing that already. For the most part, at stock, gaming and normal workloads are as good a method as any other to determine stability. If you're not experiencing any lock ups/freezing, apps crashing to desktop and error notifications you're pretty much good to go. I'd save the stability testing for when you move away from auto/default settings- you'll get sick of running the tests soon enough without adding stock setting testing.
If you wanted to ensure that everything is rock solid just for peace of mind, I'd suggest adding a Prime95 run ( small fft for CPU + cache, blend for CPU and some of your RAM) or IBT. You should have at least one or the other on hand for CPU OC stability testing in any case.

A few pics here:
http://www.techspot.com/gallery/userg112118.html

How does it all look? Do provide suggestions to make the cable management better.

Looks fine as far as I can tell so far.
Re: the cable management...you could get a tidier layout if you make up a custom inline SATA power cable. Molex at the PSU end, and measure for your hdd's, ssd and optical -this would do away with the thick PSU cable with the molex plugs. Here's a quick example (the one on the right) of a set I'm whipping up at the moment

Very quick and easy even if you omit the braided cable sleeving and heatshrink (here's a video showing how easy) 2-2.5mm auto electrical cable @ 5-10A*, some SATA plugs, a molex plug, and if you're reusing a molex-to-SATA splitter cable like the three in the pic, then you'll need a molex removal tool - the basics would set you back ~$10 on eBay (enough to make 5 or more cables). If it interests you then I can post some links for the components, or I can start a thread on making custom cables so that I don't derail this thread. If the DIY approach isn't your thing. then premade cables are available (usually hdd spacing only)
For the ATX, EPS12V, PCI-E cables, you can shape them with a tighter bend radius. Even though the cables are quite stiff, they will take reshaping, although their visual bulk is due to their thickness and being of round cross section. If you use cable extensions ( ATX, EPS12V, PCI-E's, fan splitters- NZXT and BitFenix Alchemy are the best known) then you can keep all your heavy PSU cabling at the bottom of the chassis and use lighter flat/single braided cabling extensions. My rig is fully decked out for single braided wiring (the EPS12V is NZXT, the ATX and PCI-E are my Seasonic modular cables modded, the fans (10 in total), temp probes (4), SATA power (4 hdd + optical), and molex (pump on a seperate circuit) are DIY'ed from scratch, and looks fairly clean from both the front and back.

* If you use a single colour for all four wires then you don't really need cable sleeving and heatshrink.

So with everything set up I want to bench my rig before I go into overclocking. Iam currently testing Crysis 2 with High Res Textures and DX11 @ 1600x900 with Ultra Settings. I get an average of 70 FPS. So any other games to sweat the system. Next on my list is Metro 2033.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings with Ubersampling enabled.

The system I just finished building cost $1440 for everything (except Windows 7, which I had already, and the speakers/amp) -

Mainboard - Asus P8Z77-V
CPU - Intel i5-3570K (OC to 4.3 GHz)
RAM - 2x4 GB Kingston HyperX 1600 (OC to 1866)
Case - Corsair Carbide 400R
PSU - Ultra X4 750 (full modular, 80 Plus Bronze)
GPU - EVGA GTX 550 Ti Superclocked + Intel HD 4000 (VirtuMVP)
CPU Cooler - Corsair H-100 liquid cooling
Fans - 8 x 120mm
HDD - 1 x 500 GB WDC Blue, 1 x 400 GB Hitachi DeskStar, 2 x 2TB WDC Green
ODD - LG M-Disc Super Multi
Audio - onboard Realtek ALC892 / optical SPDIF
Speakers - 5 x Boston Micro90X, 2 x Boston subs, Sony 100w/ch surround amp
Monitor - Acer S231HL (23" LCD)
KB & Mouse - Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000
OS - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Performance (OC 4.3GHz, 1866 MHz)
CPU - 62.3 GFlops/sec. (Intel Burn Test) 9415.2 (Passmark Perf. Test 7)
Ram - 21.9 GB/sec., 49.1 ns latency (MaxxMem2)
GPU - P3602 3d marks (3D Mark 11) - 2241.9 3d marks (Passmark)

I am very pleased with the way this system performs; it runs cool and quiet, overclocks easily, and handles all my games on high settings. I feel very close to the "sweet spot", needing only a fast SSD and maybe a GTX 660 Ti to make this a dream system (for practical dreamers who don't need the VERY best). Those with lots of cash could plop down a few grand and get the i7-3960X and X79 mobo and 64 GB of RAM, but it's overkill and your light bill will go up $100 a month. This was more fun, though. I researched this build for almost a year (obviously changing it several times) and tried to get "best bang for the buck" in every choice,while never compromising my performance requirements. I believe I succeeded.