I've been reading this forum for about 4 mos now and I think I have a pretty good idea of what most will tell you here.
The prevailing sentiment will be to wait. There is always something big coming up just around the corner. The problem is, you have either waited and are ready to buy or you need a part to make your system run.
If you do get advice to purchase, few if any will tell you to buy the 7800GTX 256 because they say the performance difference is not worth the extra cost. And then they will remind you that the next big thing is coming around the corner.
Once this has been covered, they will then tell you to get a 7800GT for now and then upgrade it to SLi soon or in the near future. It would be around $150 more (give or take depending on your vendor and model of choice) to get SLi'd GT's as opposed to GS's.
And, of course, all of the ATI guys will tell you to get an x1800 or x1900 and then try and convince you that problems with the drivers and software don't exist.
(I kid, I kid, these guys are great and will help you with anything, but if you hang around long enough, you know exactly what most people will say
)
Personally? I think you should get what you want to get and make sure it's eVGA if you choose Nvidia. If you go dual 6800GS's, you have 90 days to upgrade both of them to whatever you want, including the new GPU coming around the corner. It just makes sense. You spend some money and get to have something new now, and if you are not quite thrilled with your system or you desire more power, they make it easy for you to upgrade direct from the manufacturer. And all the while you can suck as much performance out of those cards as you want and they will warranty any problems provided the board does not fracture.
I have the eVGA 7800GTX 256 and I am THRILLED with it's performance. I looked at the 7800GT and considered SLi, but at the time of my purchase, the drivers for SLi were not great and I didn't want to take the chance of getting anything less than awesome gaming performance. Though it's freaking gigantic, it stays cool (ACS3) and cranks out the FPS. Everything runs on high with no hiccups (though I haven't tried FEAR yet - I hear it will tax it - FarCry, BF2, NFSMW, HL2, GTR, and Battlefront 2 run blown out with no lag). I'm not an eVGA rep, I have only owned one of their products (this one) but I feel very strongly about the value and service I got from them (being able to OC and upgrade). I think this is a great path for anyone caught needing to buy just before the latest and greatest comes out. Also, if any other company would take the lead and one-up eVGA, I would probably be singing their praises too. This stuff is expensive and giving back, even if it's just a little, goes a long way to securing my entertainment dollar.
Good luck,
HomeyFoos
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