D7100 1.3x crop in sensor vs Crop in Software?

I prefer framing and the 51 point autofocus system covers the entire frame in the 1.25x crop. Couple that with a 12 shot buffer and 7 fps in 12 bit lossless this may be a very useful crop mode. I expect the D7100 to have about the same DR and high ISO noise as a D300 in this crop mode.

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Jim