It`s that time once again!

[Lissa]

This year's round of video cards is due out soon. ATi is announcing September 8th I think, with sales starting towards the end of the month. nVidia is rumored to be well behind.

Top end Single GPU performance is rumored to be on a par with a 4870x2. Even if the rumors are exaggerated and single GPU is slightly lower than 4870x2, with the potential for a single slot crossfire, I see very, very little reason to worry about multiple x16 slots. 2560x gaming is about the only thing that would require more than a single slot solution, and even then I think performance would be adequate for most with a single slot x2 style design.

As mentioned, paying extra for technology you won't use right now, is usally paying extra for technology you won't use period. I'm not a big fan of so called "futureproofing" features, they usually don't really pan out. You really limit your choices by restricting yourself to dual x16 slot boards. P55 and i5 is also right around the corner, but from the sounds of things, Intel is mostly going to replace their "consumer level" i7 chips with i5s and not lower prices a ton. These days I don't see a TON of difference in CPU either, yours is a decent choice, but just keep in mind that Core i5s will launch near the same time as Win7 too.

There is an advantage for trying to get as close to the bleeding edge as possible, that being you don't have to bother with upgrading for 3 to 4 years in everything, but possibly the video cards. So IMO, it's worth spending extra money on all the non-video card components as they'll still be powerful for several years down the line. As to video cards though, you're pretty much spot on. Being a generation or two behind means you can still have good graphics for a couple years before you jump to beinga generation or two behind again.