1 good vs 2 mid video card question

[cray4]

I'm building a PC and got to the point of video cards and was wondering what would get me better performance: a single high-end card such as a Nvidia GTX 670 (costs about $400) or a pair of mid-range cards such as Nvidia GTX 480 setup with SLI (the pair costs about $430)? My video card budget is $350 to $440 so wasn't sure what the better bang for the buck would be. Any thoughts?

[David (PassMark)]

I would go with the single card every time.

• Not all 3D applications work with SLI.
• SLI is more prone to crashing and video glitches.
• Two video cards use twice the power
• Two video cards make twice as much noise
• Two video cards make twice as much heat
• Two video cards don't give double the performance
• The motherboards to support SLI tend to be more expensive
• You might also need a more expensive PSU.

[cray4]

I would go with the single card every time.

• Not all 3D applications work with SLI.
• SLI is more prone to crashing and video glitches.
• Two video cards use twice the power
• Two video cards make twice as much noise
• Two video cards make twice as much heat
• Two video cards don't give double the performance
• The motherboards to support SLI tend to be more expensive
• You might also need a more expensive PSU.

Didn't think about the x2 power, x2 noise etc. Thank for the reply.