multiple 2600XT 256 OR single 8800GT 512?

It looks like it might be a lucky month for me next month, and if things go to plan i'll be the proud owner of a mac pro to replace this desktop :) So 8 core goodness approaches I hope, but even though this isnt really going to be a gaming machine, i'm still going to be playing the odd game on it (some wow, BF2, CSS etc really).

Everything has to be done via the apple store (no opening it up and sticking in my own stuff for this) as it will be a business lease, and there strict rules.

So these graphics options all work out to be about £100-£150 difference in total, which isnt that much a month extra..but i'm not sure on how much a difference each "level" will make, hence my question. The options are:

Single Radeon 2600XT 256mb
Dual Radeon 2600XT 256mb (~extra £70 on base)
Single 8800GT 512 (~ extra £110 on base)
Triple Radeon 2600XT 256mb (~ extra £150 on base)

You can go for quad XTs or dual 8800s but that pushes the price up by too much.

So, any opinions on which option will be best for gaming? Video editing isn't a concern as thats not what its going to be used for, so i'm after optinions purely from a gaming POV. From what I know, I doubt the 3rd radeon would make any difference whatsoever, so I guess its pretty much between the dual 2600s and the single 8800GT. Which would be better?

Any advice on that would be appreciated :)

Dunno what Crossfire's like on Mac's but on a PC I'd say go for the 8800GT every time for pure gaming.

I'd be running it in Vista for gaming so think of it as a PC from that POV :)

Still go for the GT the 2600 were not great for gaming by any stretch of the imagination.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the 8800GT.

Single 8800GT 512 (~ extra £110 on base)

8800 gt if you intend to game

A more expensive single card is IMHO always better than any multi-GPU configuration.

Unless you want better performance that the current single GPU king (is that still the 8800Ultra???) then my feeling is that it's just a waste of time.

The whole SLI/XFire thing is just nVidia and ATI willy waggling at each other!

^^To above, yes, I believe the 8800 Ultra is still the top card.

To the topic starter, get the 8800GT. In fact, pay slightly more and get an overclocked one. :D I love my eVGA Superclocked 8800GT.

I'll probably got the single Nvidia card then :)

Cheers for the advice, wasn't really sure but I think the answers are pretty conclusive..

Just to update, I've gone for the Nvidia card =) All ordered now, just have to wait a few weeks for the damn thing to arrive..

Will be on the edge of my seat until then lol

^^^ Out of curiosity, which 8800GT did ya get? :D