In short: GTX 560 died, can no longer get hold of GTX 560s, decided it was time to get an upgrade, searched for GTX 660 on amazon, found models from ASUS, gigabyte and EVGA. Which one do I go for?
I feel inclined to go for the ASUS card as it has their Direct CU II cooling system that should help keep the fans cool aswell as the fact that card has 2 cooling fans (as appose to the single fan in my now honorably discharged 560). However, any input on this would be highly appreciated
I would go for anything asus, evga or msi for nvidia cards
If you can, i'd reccommend you nab a gtx 760 from either EVGA, MSI or ASUS. I've had good experiences from EVGA (current owner of EVGA GTX 760 SC ACX), but the stock cooler=higher temps. If you can find one of the uber rare EVGA GTX 660 sig 2 that would be cool, but other than that i'd recommend the ASUS for GTX 660. Also, if you buy an nvidia GPU, wait until the new game bundles are out (free batmen and splinter cell as well as $50 off sheild). You should also use teksyndicate amazon affiliate links :)
I went with the MSI GTX 660 2GB (non-ti). It has amazingly low temps even when I'm overclocking. The fact that it has two fans helps astronomically. People say that open air cooling can heat up the inside of your case, but I haven't noticed any significant difference in my temps. The card has never gone over 45c.
MSI GTX 660 OC 2GB -
AMD FX 6300 -
8GB Crucial Ballistix 1600Mhz -
MSI G46-970A Motherboard -
I'd grab this one by EVGA. It has their new ACX cooler which has proven to be very effective on the GTX 780, 770, and 760. EVGA itself is a very good company with good customer support which is why they're the most popular vendor for Nvidia cards.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130967