Originally posted by: SerpentRoyal
SLI is a bum deal. To get the best performance, you'll need to buy two high-end GPUs. In six months, your SLI rig will be slower than a high-end GPU.
Keep in mind that the 8800-series cards came out last year. So, it has been 9 months now that GTX SLI will have been going strong without a single card that can match it.
Granted, not too many games *need* that much power. And the ones that do, it's pretty much only at 2560x1600 (30" LCDs).
I don't know when nV's (or AMD's) new card is coming out. But my guess would be Nov-Dec timeframe. If so, and *if* the new card is twice as fast as the 8800GTX, then, after 12+ months, we will finally have a single card that can
match GTX SLI. Still, the next gen card will likely have features that the 8800-series can't touch, even in SLI.
Granted, I'm not telling anyone to go out and buy 2 GTXs unless you really really need it (especially so late in the product cycle). My point is-- "six months" isn't an accurate estimate.
And those that did jump on GTX SLI back then will probably be able to sell both of their cards for $700 total, making their upgrade cost for next-gen SLI at around $400-$500 out-of-pocket (depending on what the new top end cards cost). So, while I'm plunking down $500 for a single next-gen card, they'll be plunking down the exact same and getting 2x the performance (depending on the game and settings).
I wouldn't call SLI a "bum deal". It has its merits. In my opinion, however, it is only useful when buying 2 top-end cards right away and playing at very high resolutions. Not something most of us can/will do.