I have a similar configuration - dual core 2.5ghz with 2x8800 gtx's. When I first played the game, it actually hung after playing for about 30 minutes. I thought it'd re-sync, but suddenly my monitor went blank. Keyboard unresponsive - a good old fashioned hangup. I installed the latest video drivers and so far I haven't had any problems after 1.5 hours of gameplay. I'm running SLI in AFR1, btw.
I used to have this problem too. Although the driver fix seems to indicate that it was a software issue, I'll say this if the problem persists after the update: it could be heat issues. I found that the cards were getting pretty hot, so I invested in a 160 CFM fan to blow on them. Granted, now my case sounds like a baby jet engine, and maybe I didn't need THAT powerful of a fan, but I have never ever had a hangup like what you described again. For any game.
Get HWmonitor if that does happen to watch the temperature of your cards. If they get in the 80's, you might want to check to make sure you have good case ventilation. By that, I mean some great airflow coming in from the bottom of the case in front, with equally good air blowing out the back, plus a casefan mounted next to the side of your SLI setup blowing towards the cards.
http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php
If you have done this and heat still remains a problem, or you simply want to try to solve a potential GFX heat problem without having to shell out $ for fans, try this software to tweak the fanspeed of your cards:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163
This guide will tell you how to do exactly that, step-by-step:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/rivatuner-20-fan-speed--overclock-guide/
---- back on track ----
I have a similar setup to the OP's: 3.6 overclocked e8800 dual-core, 2 gigs of ram, and twin 8800 GTX OC's in SLI with two 10,000 RPM Raptors in a RAID-0. I used to have some occasional issues with guardians and their shield bubble, but after the beta-patch, those lag spikes entirely disappeared.
Hope this helps.
Edit: I'm using 175.16 forceware for the cards.