SLI = future proofing ?

[Ash0787]

I have a 780 at the moment and it is good enough for any game that I know of at the moment with my 1680x1050 monitor, but with the advent of VR on the horizon
I feel that its not going to be quite enough for some applications ( they are estimating a requirement of 1440p at 90Hz ),
So I am thinking what is going to be the best way to make sure my pc is ready for that.

I have not had the 780 for that long and I like the aesthetic so I would like to keep it for a while, so SLI would be a good option,
the problem is though that its been said that the current rendering methods for dual GPUs introduce noticable latency to to the system,
and people are unsure of whether that will be solved in say 9 monthes time. For that reason it might be better to wait for a high end gpu of the new design that is not yet released,
but if I go that route I think I will get less performance for the cost, unless the next architecture is like 80% more powerful and brings optimization specifically for VR.

The other thing that I am aware of is the need to have 2 identical graphics cards for SLI ( I would certainly want to have the same model ), but I am concerned that if I wait on it, the card will sell out,
because I think people will buy up a lot of 700 series in a few monthes time or whenever the new nvidia cards arrive, since the price will likely drop and I think lots of people will be upgrading around that time.

I never really expected the 780Ti to be released, considering the high price of the 780 / Titan, I think that the 780 should have been 'fully unlocked' GK110 for the price that it is,
and thus the 780Ti would not need to exist.

So I'm not sure whether to SLI the 780 or wait for the new cards to be released.

 

[Gregster]

I am a 3D gamer and could happily play all games at very decent GFX on one Titan (the Titan is fractionally faster than a 780). I would wait till the Oculus Rift (that's what you are meaning?) is out and then see how you get on.

 

[Ash0787]

I mostly mean the rift yes, therw will be other headsets available in the future though I'm sure. I know what you mean by wait and see how demanding the software is, but at the same time I can sort of estimate how the performance will be, they have said that a 770 is the recommended minimum, I think most of the software that is designed for it will be targetting mid range hardware, so the graphics will be somewhere around PS3 or even PS2 levels, but I think I will want to also try it with some next gen graphics e.g. BF4, I have not played that game for a while due to the crashes and lack of balance, but I am sure that I don't manage to get over 75 FPS constantly, let alone 90.

The main 'game' that I am playing at the moment is a military flight simulator,
the graphics are not amazing, they are in need of improvement, but I have seen the framerate drop below 60 on occasions.

Edit - I think I might be overestimating the hardware requirements a little, I did some tests with battlefield 4 and at 150% upscale I was able to get around 75 FPS
average, if I knocked down the anti aliasing and some of the options to high ( though I kept lighting and texture quality at ultra ). That should be enough for
the development kit 2, which is 1080p 75 fps, so I guess its not going to be too much of an issue to have next gen experiences on current hardware, although we might
have to tone things down slightly and possibly upscale from 720p or 1080p for the 1440p 90hz version.