Best graphics card for my new system

[Digerati]

Now that my PC is running in dual channel mode it is much more responsive

Yeah, I imagine it would be noticable. Dual-channel almost doubles the bandwidth capabilities of data transfer between the RAM to the CPU.

[costac19]

Originally Posted by Digerati

Yeah, I imagine it would be noticable. Dual-channel almost doubles the bandwidth capabilities of data transfer between the RAM to the CPU.

Thanks Again Digerati "Dual Channel almost doubles the bandwidth capabilities of data transfer between the RAM to the CPU".

When I ran Sandra 2012 before it revealed I was only getting about 8gb bandwidth, now it is almost 22gb bandwidth! Yes, I have doubled the amount of Ram but I am getting well above the expected bandwidth! Dual channel is getting me about another 6 gb bandwidth.
Wow Thanks

[Digerati]

Well, benchmarks are cool, but they don't always translate to real-world. In fact, they rarely do. But if they do, the Placebo effect is often a major factor too - IF the comparing is not done "blind". Doubling the bandwidth does not mean double the performance. In fact, there are many benchmarks that focus on this one game or that one task that only show a 5 or 10% performance difference between single and dual channel memory setups. And in real-world observation, no gains were perceived by users.

What is apparent - at least up the "Sweetspot" - is that the amount of RAM is more important than the speed of the RAM or it's bandwidth. So if the choice is fast 4Gb (2 x 2Gb) in dual channel, or entry level 8Gb (1 x 8Gb) in single channel - don't hesitate! Get the 8! Windows (and your hard drive) will reward you for it.

By sweetspot, I mean (generally, "for the money") where less RAM results in a performance hit, but more RAM does not provide any significant gain. For dual channel motherboards and the vast majority of users, that is 8Gb. For triple-channel, 6Gb. Of course, both require 64-bit Windows 7 - a superior OS anyway.

[costac19]

Latest on my Build!
My new graphics card has finally arrived!
I had a lot of problems getting the card I originally ordered, Radeon Club 3D HD7850. It was constantly out of stock! So have now bought the Sapphire HD 7870 OC edition!

Installed it a couple of hours a go, and it is magnificent! It is quiet and powerful.

So to the specifications

Coolermaster Sileo 500 case
700W OCZ ModXtreme Pro PSU
Gigabyte Z77 DS3H Motherboard
Intel Ivy Bridge I5 3570k CPU
16GB of Ripjaws DDR3 Ram
128Gb Samsung Sata 3 SSD (used for boot drive winows 7 64 bit and currently played game) Crysis 1
500GB Western digital Hdd Sata 2 (from older machine) Used as data drive
DVD/RW
Sapphire HD7870 OC edition PCI 3 Graphics card

Some early test results
There are two test results (1) with the on board Intel 4000 graphics (2) With the Sapphire HD7870

Sandra overall system rating (1)= rank 80.34% (2)= rank 95.02%
Heaven DX11 (1)= avg FPS 37.8 Score 952 (2)= avg FPS 109.2 score 2752
3D mark 11 (1)= 743 3d Marks (2)= 6621 3D Marks
Crysis (1)= FPS 27 (2)= FPS 69 (using Fraps)
Windows Experience Index 7.6 overall
CPU 7.6
mem 7.7
Graphics games 7.9
Graphics business 7.9
Hdd 7.7

To be honest I do not understand most of these figures But I do know that the system is very fast and very quiet!
A success!
Thanks to all of you at Major Geeks for your helpful and knowledgeable advice
Costac19

[Goldenskull]

Good Build hope you bought Extra warranty on all of your parts i normally buy max warranty on my Video Cards and MOB.

[costac19]

Special thanks go to Digerati for telling me about my mistake when I only ordered 1 stick of 8Gb Ram and was missing out on dual channel support. Also for golden skull and satrow for there help.

[Digerati]

Special thanks go to Digerati for telling me about my mistake when I only ordered 1 stick of 8Gb Ram and was missing out on dual channel support

You are welcome and thank for the followup.