What is the rest of your system?
Two cards in sli each render half of the display image and then assemble them.
It requires a sli capable motherboard and graphics cards with sli connectors to connect the two cards.
Generally, it is better to use a single strong card vs two weaker cards in sli.
Some games do not support dual cards, and there may be issues with tearing and stuttering.
At about the same price, a single GTX970 would be much better.