I think the point is this... one should be content with what they have, as long as the experience is enjoyable etc...
What Im trying to say is that a single 5870 should be able to deliver an enjoyable experience from BF3, even if it cant max the settings.
SLI 470's should defo be able to deliver a nice experience, even if it cant max the game out.
I think its a goosd thing that a game on max settigns is superior to any hardware, as it pushes technologocal advancs further and faster.
Having only purchased my 5870 in September 2010, I cant justify another gpu upgrade, but if a new cpu and ssd (mobo & dd3 as consequence) can push the performance of my 5870 even just by a little, then it would be well worth it and I will be in a good position to uograde to windows 8 and maybe a Dx12 gpu once it comes out, assuming Windows 8 will push Dx to 12....
Considering games have hardly tapped in to Dx11 yet, it would be nothing more than a marketing gimick, well see, but as it comes out in 2012, I wouldnt be supprised if Microsoft renamed DX11.1 to DX12 just for sales.