They count as the 'old school setups' i'm afraid, may only seem like yesterday but we're 2 generations on from that now

The hd5/gtx4 and hd6/gtx5 series are very good in crossfire (the latter generation being fantastic in all aspects). You should never mix two high end cards though for the problems you stated with heat and noise. However, selecting two cards like gtx460's instead of one high end card is a fantastic choice for price/performance and even noise and heat!