New i5 ivy bridge build...What Graphics Card Should I get?

[Willzzz]

Also as I mentioned in your other thread beware of the horrendous noise.

The 7950 starts out as a noisy card, and while most manufacturers manage to slash that noise down to reasonable levels XFX have somehow managed to increase it.

There is a reason XFX cards are cheap and always in stock.

[flamstead]

Thanks Wilzzz, never thought buying a graphics card would cause so much headache. So must avoid XFX cards. The search continues...just dont want to buy one at said price and then a week later reduced by £20...silly i know

[Willzzz]

In actual fact it seems that AMD cards have risen slightly in price. There were a number of bargains that sadly seem to have expired.

Here are a few options:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...56&subcat=1673
Good value decent brand 7950 £240

http://www.dabs.com/products/gigabyt...?q=7950&src=16
Good value decent brand 660Ti £230

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...xy-msi-10.html
The 660Ti is great at BF3 and Civ5 but not quite as good as the 7950 in many other games.

Or of course you could go for a 7870 / 660 which are both perfectly capable of running BF3 etc, especially with a mild overclock.

[Willzzz]

Oh and both sites do deals with quidco:

Overclockers do free shipping (expires 1st oct)

Dabs do 2% cashback (almost £4) shipping is free anyway

This is probably the cheapest card that will still give you good BF3 performance at top settings:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-m...098mhz-cores-9

There used to be some good options for 7870s at that price range too, but sadly all seem to have disappeared or be out of stock.

[holy god of nil]

This is a pretty decent 7870 deal http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...=hotukdeals-21

Couldn't say whether it'd be better for the OP than a 660 though I suppose

[Willzzz]

Yeah that's not bad, no bundled games, but neither does the 660.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This is a pretty decent 7870 deal http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...=hotukdeals-21

Couldn't say whether it'd be better for the OP than a 660 though I suppose

There is also this new MSI HD7870 which has appeared on the Scan website recently:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-m...hdmi-2x-mini-d

Its about £10 cheaper than the Twin Frozr version on Ebuyer which has sold out.

Edit!!

Aria has it too,although you do have to pay for postage:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=51966

This bumps the price up to around £187 delivered although it does have a game. OTH,the Twin Frozr might be better although both coolers look very similar. Both use heatpipes although the newer design appears to use wider diameter fans.

[Willzzz]

Aria having it in stock and with a free game is a win as far as I am concerned.

The cooler is almost certainly worse than the Twin Frozr version, this is clearly a budget edition, although coming from MSI I bet it still beats the pants off XFX.

[flamstead]

Just to let everyone know, I have gone with THIS card (MSI PE GTX 660 TI). Thanks for all the help and suggestions in this thread. If i could send thanks I would but I cant for some reason?!?.