I upgrade from a 570 to the 7970 when it be release think it would match the 680 's performance and I would not have to wait 3-4 month for Kepler . after the review and the cheaper price tag , I swap my 7970 for this 680 . great decision . I have it clock at ~ 1280mhz -lrb- my 7970 clock to about the same -rrb- , and the difference during benchmark be noticeable . it be less expensive , more power-efficient , and faster than the 7970 , and Nvidia have superior driver to ati\/amd . if you be spend $ 400-600 on a graphic card , this can not be beat ! Games and benchmark crash semi-frequently with my 7970 , but the 680 have be much more stable so far . also , I have have coil whine with both the 7970 and the 680 ; the coil whine on the 680 be about half as loud .