Be warned - a long discussion on SLI Setups.
Also I would suggest not going SLI since most games have issues with SLI.
Well, I personally haven't had any problems with any of my games in SLI. Though you will have to tweak each game to avoid any issues if you have the time. It doesn't take that long to make some adjustments. Now some people don't like or have time to tweak their games so yes, I agree with Wize that not all games will utilize SLI and you may encounter what's called stutter in your games. But that is very minimal as your performance will either double to triple in FPS. But also, with two cards, you will use more power and it will create more heat as well.
If you have money to burn and don't mind tweaking your games as most gamers enjoy doing, then go SLI. But if you want to be more practical, purchase the highest grade single graphics card you can afford. I wouldn't purchase anything less than a 970 as Nvidia has changed the architecture of the Maxwell Chipset of all cards from 970 and higher which makes the cards more efficient, less power draw and better rendering performance. Also I'd recommend either MSI, Asus or EVGA as these card manufacturers have the best heat pipes and cooling hardware on them.
Then as time goes by like after 4+ years and as newer games come out that will require more processing power, you can go SLI to play those games. And the first card you purchased; after 4+ years, will have declined dramatically in price allowing you to go SLI to keep up with the next generation of games.
Here is the latest link to the latest games that are using a SLI setup. It's not required to go SLI to play these games, but if your heavy into eyeball candy and want to play all your games at the Ultra Settings, then SLI is a must.
These are the 2014 games that will utilize SLI.
http://www.game-debate.com/news/?ne...List Of Compatible NVIDIA SLI Supported Games
You can check out the lastest games that SLI will work with at Nvidia.com
http://www.geforce.com/games-applications/technology/sli
Here's a true fact with SLI. 99.4% of the games you play will never use 100% of the ram on a card including the maximum power draw. So from extensive research, you will rarely see any stutter or problems in SLI with all the games offered today. It's when you push your cards beyond the graphic resolutions of 4k and new 5k monitors that are going beyond the 4096x2160 native resolutions, that's when you will see problems in SLI from pushing the card more than it can handle.
But it's personal preference. I've been using SLI for over 12 years and haven't had any issues with my SLI setup and the performance is outstanding. But I enjoy extreme clarity and play at 1920x1200 resolutions. Until my LCD monitor gets replaced, then my next monitor may be pushing towards the newer 5k world when I can truly utilize SLI at it's best.
I hope this helps you out and clarifies this topic for you. I research constantly on all my computer parts cause I'm an extreme over-clocker and am always striving for the best temperatures and consistent frame rates that I can achieve. I tend to push the limits in OC by not only pushing my processor and ram but also my chipset, PCIE Lanes being used and voltage regulators. I use to be a heavy benchmark competitor before I got into gaming. But now I'm burned-out of benchmarking and back into gaming, I still dabble with my settings. It's a hobby and it gratifies me. You don't need to go to extremes like me to enjoy great gaming. And in many cases it's a waste of time and dangerous as well. It's just me and it excites me to still be able to do that.
Good luck with your decision and I'll see you on the front lines.
P.S. A word of advice, you should use your monitors maximum resolution it supports for the truest clarity in your games. Now, most monitors can be set at 1080p (1920x1080P), but if the monitor can go beyond that resolution, then don't use 1080P. Movies is one thing, but in games it's a totally different world. 1080P will create better game play, but the graphics clarity will suffer tremendously. Where as if you play at 16:10(1920x1200), your adding 120 more pixels to your games and it will increase your graphical clarity. But if your in the 4k world, then your most likely not playing at these lower levels as long as you don't push your graphic cards beyond the monitors capacity.:thumbup1:
