I can only see two instances where SLI beats out 1 regular higher end card making it a good idea
1. You have wads of cash, and want the best performance available (beyond what a single card is currently capable of).
2. You don't have wads of cash, but two lower-end cards cost less combined than one higher end card, and can outperform it.
The "upgrade path" option for SLI isn't that great of an option IMO. Generally by the time you're ready to grab a second card, there's a new single card that will outperform your SLI setup.
And I reject the "because it doesn't use 100% of the card" argument. This is high end computers we are talking here. You aren't getting 100% out your graphics card anyway, unless you pair it with the highest possible CPU and the highest speed RAM. It really doesn't matter how many components you have in your system, it matters what kind of performance you can extract from that setup (and how much it cost). While SLi boards shouldn't cost twice as much, they often do have pretty high-end components and performance, so generally the little extra you pay for them is worth it (though 3x as much makes little sense unless you're just trying to get bleeding edge).
SLI has its place, thought rarely as a good way to upgrade.
1. You have wads of cash, and want the best performance available (beyond what a single card is currently capable of).
2. You don't have wads of cash, but two lower-end cards cost less combined than one higher end card, and can outperform it.
The "upgrade path" option for SLI isn't that great of an option IMO. Generally by the time you're ready to grab a second card, there's a new single card that will outperform your SLI setup.
And I reject the "because it doesn't use 100% of the card" argument. This is high end computers we are talking here. You aren't getting 100% out your graphics card anyway, unless you pair it with the highest possible CPU and the highest speed RAM. It really doesn't matter how many components you have in your system, it matters what kind of performance you can extract from that setup (and how much it cost). While SLi boards shouldn't cost twice as much, they often do have pretty high-end components and performance, so generally the little extra you pay for them is worth it (though 3x as much makes little sense unless you're just trying to get bleeding edge).
SLI has its place, thought rarely as a good way to upgrade.
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