You must be straight with your self do you want performance or fancy ass pc.
I didnt pass the your budget (even left 30$ for mouse and what ever) you moan how your budget is limited and on the other hand 10$+ is no biggy, you need to get your priorities straight mister, and you are the one who is cheaping out on the PSU, the most vital point of your system.
But its your money...
^^ those bench tests where before the latest AMD drivers.
The drivers realy bosted amd cards NOW at this piont in time the 7870 is around 10-15% better than a 660
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PWSjrakRig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMkhafTMPcc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aiz7HCdGEic
But what you do need to consider is what you whant from your card ie open cl/cuda cores/physx ect ect
The world of technology is a fast paced game look for newer benckmarks/tests
What happend 3-6mths agos can realy change in that time
Thank you for straightening things out. I was not aware of this. I plan on playing games like Arkham City, BF3, Borderlands 2, Battlefield 4, etc. This makes me lean torwards to the 7870. I think I might have to go cheaper on the case for it. I love the case, but we do want the best performance possible. At least with the 7870 I get at least 2 free games :). I will do some research on an appropriate case and apply changes when it happens. The GTX 660 is still a great card, but until better Nvidia drivers come out, I may just have to switch.
Changes have been made!
I have improved my GPU choice and lowered my case cost. The reason why I say no biggy is because the $5-10 is like 1% of the money I have. Trust me, if the Patriot one you recommended wasn't discontinued, I would take it for $41! I will downgrade to 1600 (if I can find one that isn't discontinued), as this video has proved to me and convinced me that it does not affect much gaming performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0L_KFKJYvg. Thank you for the advice, and I appreciate the criticism. I do not understand how I am cheaping out on the PSU nor do I intend to change it. Corsair does a great job with them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj8j-CQ2Wbw At 6:01, Logan recommends this.
What are the parts in your current PC?
You can always keep the hard drive in your current PC, save a couple bucks...
You can also keep the case.
With the extra cash, you can upgrade to a FX 8350, and possibly a H100i.
This is a fresh new build!