What would I do? I'd wait for quantity levels of the 7000-series to settle down a bit and for shops to quit price gouging. Really depends upon where the prices settle though and if NVIDIA causes a price war with Kepler later in the year. I fully expect the 7970/7950 to adjust down to 6970/6950 pricing plus $50 or so for the 3GB ram upgrade.
Well, I don't have time to wait. I have a buyer for my MSI R5870 and he's waiting on the damn thing nearly two months now, since I have such a hard time picking a good card. I am obsessed with it really. Look at my post history :p
If you are a guy that is easily annoyed by low fps, no aa, tearing;), stuttering etc. then playing bf3 on ultra (msaa enabled) and on triple 1080p resolution is not going to be possible. You need two 79xx cards for that and then you get horrible microstuttering. Fraps will tell you the game is running at 60 fps for example and it would feel like under 30 fps to you, so the second card would be useless. You might as well just buy one 79xx and play on high-ish. That is what I am going to do and that is also what I would recommend to you.
Low fps, no AA: that's why I'm getting a high end card;
Tearing: That's why I'm thinking about the Asus card;
Stuttering: That's why I ain't getting Crossfire (or SLI for that matter)
I was in doubt whether to add that I ment high and not ultra settings, I should've done that.
Anyways, I think my quest has come to an end. I think the only good choice for me is the Asus HD7970-DC2-3GD5 or the HD7970-DC2
T-3GD5.
Unless someone comes with some
really good arguments why I should not buy this card before it releases in the Netherlands.
Thank you all so much for your help, and I might write an article about the Asus when I get it.
Moose
PS: Wijkert, I'd like to stay in touch and see what your experiences will be with your new card.