Are premium graphics cards worth it?

[RaptorSA]

I'd rather have a situation where more companies spend resources into investigating the cause and solution of micro-stuttering, game/driver compatibility and other issues in dual-GPU setups, rather than trying to squeeze a few more FPS from an existing GPU architecture.

Personally, when I've made my choice and I've decided to buy a specific GPU generation, I ONLY look at the pricing.
This strategy has served me well over the years and I have had no regrets. *touch wood*

Another issue worth mentioning is the actual appearance of after market coolers.
Even though I'm really not that fussy about the appearance of hardware, one thing that does actually put me off completely is having to spend R4K on a GPU that looks like it's being wrapped and labeled in some badly designed CGI-chick-with-huge-tits image. I know most of them aren't like that, but there's tons of cards where companies do this (especially with some of the cheaper nVidia 580's)
STOP doing that, PLEASE. I'm pretty sure the majority of people who potentially have R4K to spend on a GPU aren't <=15 years old.

Some examples:
http://www.wootware.co.za/club-3d-geforce-gtx580-1536mb-pci-e-graphics-card-retail.html
http://www.wootware.co.za/inno3d-ge...t-pci-e-2-0-desktop-graphics-card-retail.html
http://www.wootware.co.za/point-of-view-geforce-gtx580-1536mb-gddr5-pci-e-desktop-graphics-card.html
http://www.wootware.co.za/sapphire-radeon-hd6970-2gb-pci-e-graphics-card-retail.html
http://www.wootware.co.za/vtx3d-radeon-hd6950-2gb-pci-e-graphics-card-retail.html

EDIT: Another brainfart:
It's also quite depressing that we still have a situation where mobile computers aren't designed with a little bit of thought put into upgrading the most obvious components (especially the GPU). Even someone with a previous gen. Intel i7/i5 Notebook would benefit greatly if he was able to drop in a better GPU (I mean seriously, if you have 8x or 16x PCIe there's no reason this shouldn't be possible if you seperate the GPU circuits and allow for easier upgrading).

 

[GeOgre]

@RaptorSA mate you really have not seen what I have.

You would actually be greatly surprised at what you are saying.

None the less, Nvidia and AMD are working hard to optimize dual set up's, currently SLI and Crossfire on the GTX 4xx, 5xx and HD 6xxx are on average 80 to 90% sometimes as high as 98% on rare occasions.

Sales are all about Marketing and History. The cards that sell the most are the ones which usually have the Name Asus.

 

[Pada]

@RaptorSA:
I'm running 2x GTX460 in SLI and the performance increase over 1x GTX460 is simply remarkable, and I haven't noticed any stuttering in any of the (mostly FPS) games that I play.

I do have a laptop (Dell Inspiron 9400) that has a GPU that you can upgrade, but it is just way too expensive to make it worth while.
Having laptops with upgradeable components would just be a nightmare in terms of warranties & cooling. You can already upgrade the HDD & RAM without much effort.

 

[RaptorSA]

@GeOgre and @Pada...
I'm definitely speaking from a position of "informed" ignorance regarding the dual GPU setups on modern cards.

I haven't had the chance to mess around with a PC that has dual 6870's for instance (which is something I've been looking into for months now) but every now and then -just after finally deciding to bite the bullet- I find an article or forum complaint online that focuses on the fact that micro-stuttering with frame drops etc. is still an issue with modern cards. The fact that subjectivity also plays a huge role in these circumstances doesn't make the choice any easier.

Specifically the other day I was reading a detailed article where the conclusion was that these issues decrease when you have faster cards in dual setups (specifically cards that are faster than a 6870 or 460).
It's so damn confusing since I'd really like to drop an extra GPU in my machine and not have to worry about possible regrets afterwards.

EDIT: And please remember, I'm not talking scaling here. AMD, for instance, sucked compared to nVidia on the scaling side of things until the 6xxx series was released.
Now they're getting phenomenal scaling. What concerns me is reports about those frame-rate drops you get (min vs. max, not average fps).
I'd be lying if I said I'm convinced, but, your posts do give me hope... *sigh*... Damn you uncertainty!

EDIT, AGAIN:
Here's that article I mentioned earlier: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995-15.html
Comments from the folks who're actually using these setups right now would be appreciated (Yes, I know, it's slightly off-topic)

My point is that selling "premium" graphics cards within the same GPU generation requires a more informed client base today than we would've had, say, 8 years ago.
Clock and memory timing, temperatures, noise levels etc. are all things that these companies selling "premium" cards compete on, and with social networking and increasing I.T. knowledge among our generation on the increase, these complexities, however seemingly insignificant, are actually driving sales figures between brands quite substantially.

However, the fact is, that even a quick Google search shows that most PC enthusiasts focusing on these cards in the first place are getting beyond that now, what we really want, and see in the current generation of cards is the potential for a "cheap modular" design that gives us a longer GPU life cycle (IF we choose so) when we know that current generations of CPU's can outlive the GPU easily.
Well, that's how I feel ever since Intel's Nehalem i-series was released...

Which basically brings me back to my initial point: I'm too used to seeing third-parties point out the potential and advantage in multiple GPU setups.
It's almost like the companies manufacturing these cards are downplaying the issue by listing its biggest potential simply as a feature, or maybe, there's a black-hole between RND and marketing.
It's time we see companies like Asus and MSI stand behind and sell their "premium" products with guarantees, solutions and time lines that offer us more concrete and complex options, we, the enthusiasts who spend the cash, can handle it.