Hm, most Tests show what SLI only make sense if you have a big TFT Display and want to play with all quality settings like AA on High.
If your TFT ist limited to 1280 x 1024 Pixels (most 17 & 19" TFTs) a good medium class GraphicCard like the nvidea 7800 & 7900 and ATI 1950 Series runs BF2 and BF 2142 @ 30 to 60 FpS.

Two cheap Cards in SLI don't have more Power than a good medium Class Card while even two SLI HighEnd Cards have a hard work to show an actual game like Crysis or CoD4 at the native resolution of a 32" TFT with all eye candy.

BF2 and BF 2142 gains a lot of additional Power if you upgrade to 2 GIG, mostly in the loading time of the maps and client verification.
The exact ammount of RAM needed ist also a question of graphic settings an GraphicCard Memory. HighGraphic Settings an low RAM isn't good.

For Fraps:
Using a second HardDrive to record the Movie should gain performance.
Limiting the maximum FpS of BF 2142 by using game.lockFps 30 in the konsole makes the record smoother.

Also think about the final video.
In most cases it's in 640 x 480 Pixels because the limitations of YouTube. Even if you plan to show the vid on a beamer higher res aren't needed.
So its stupid to record the game in highres an resize later.

Speaking about youtube:
Stage6 from DviX allows better res an to download the vid, there is also less competition. Currently there are only 3 FirstStrike Vids on Stage6, one of them very professional.

CYNIC, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic’s eyes to improve his vision