Converting Computer to 3D help

[kilcondlost]

Hi guys. I was over at a buddies house and he just got a 3D tv and was playing PS3 on it and I fell in love. So I want to do the same with my computer. As far as I know my graphics card (Radeon 4890) isn't able to play 3D. So what I want to know is what do I need to be able to switch my computer to 3d like monitor video card and what else. Exact models would be helpful. Also when I do upgrade will I be able to run with my old graphics card at the same time? I know that if I get a better graphics card I wouldn't want to do Crossfire because it would slow it down, but since I already have two monitors and would have 3 if I bought a 3D one would it make sense to have 2 monitors on 1 graphics card and one on the other?? If that sounds retarded let me know because I'm really not sure. Thank you ahead of time for the help and please be completely honest don't sugar coat it if I said something moronic.
Full Computer Specs
i7-920@4ghz
Asus P6t
3x2gb Kingston HyperX 1800 DDR3 @ 1550
3x2gb Corsair Dominator 1600 DDR3@ 1550
AMD Radeon 4890 1gb DDR5
Coolermaster Silent Pro 800w PSU
Avermedia G2 TvTuner (which I hate but also wonder how that works with 3d and if anyone has any knowledge on this thing let me know It confuses me)
Asetek 240mm Radiator Liquid Cooling w/4 130cfm push/pull 30/67c idle/load

 

[ricardois]

As far as I know my graphics card (Radeon 4890) isn't able to play 3D

First of all, that is untrue, you are not able to use NVIDIA 3D VISION but there are some other ways to acquire the 3D effect:

Basically there are 4 ways to see 3D, NVIDIA 3D VISION, DDD, IZ3D and Native(some games are ready for that, so you just choose 3D mode and your video device must be enable to generate the 3D from that image (Side By Side,Checkerboard,etc)
You can learn more on the link...

http://www.mtbs3d.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11389&Itemid=57


But Nvidia 3D Vision is the best way, there are more compatible games, and very immersive 3D, if you want to enable that, you will need to buy some nvidia hardware, first some good video card, then 3D Glasses Kit + 120hz compatible monitor.
That way you can get full 3D with 1080p quality.

There is also the possibility to use 3D on your television, but that is limited to 1280x720 60hz or 1920x1080 24hz mostly because of the hdmi cable... you will need dual link dvi for 60hz for 1080p and that will just be found in monitors;

There is a lot to learn to make it work properly so best thing is to read some articles about it to get informed before buying some 3D stuff that will not work...

if you have one 3D television, you can try the softwares i speak before;

if you want something with better quality, check nvidia 3D Vision page to get more informed, but be warned you will need to spend some money to get it working:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-main.html;

 

[wolfram23]

Why do you have 2 kinds of completely different RAM? *OCD blood pressure rises* lol

Anyway as far as I know you just need a 5000 series or newer ATI card, or a 400 series or newer Nvidia card.

You then need a 3D monitor, the cheapest one I've seen is a Samsung 23". Just look around. If you go with Nvidia card then you should get one of the Nvidia 3D compatible displays. The other ones will also work but it makes it easier.

Also check out this review:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/tridef-stereoscopic-3d-gaming,3019.html

 

[kilcondlost]

To Ricardos: would I be able to use anything Nvidia since I currently have an ATI Radeon?
and to wolfram23 trust me I wanted the same ram but my Kingston is 1.9v and came with the computer which is an i7 and i7s dont like to run above 1.65v. So I acctually tried some more of the same exact ram even though it was hard to find and put them in, but when I did it crashed so i returned them and picked up some 1.5v kingston cuz thats all they were selling and fried 2 sets of them. Luckily they took them back and then I bought the corsair and it worked great ever since.
Now i figured I would have to get a new graphics card. Ricardo if you could elaberate a little more on the end product I would really appreciate it because Im a little bit lost. but wolfram would I be able to keep my graphics card I have now for some tasks and use the new graphics card for the majority of stuff or would that be pointless?

 

[wolfram23]

Wouldn't make much sense to keep the current GPU if you buy a newer, better one. The only situation it can help is if you want to run multiple monitors/screens without taxing your main GPU, but then you'd also not want to do that if it will reduce the PCIe bandwidth.

Also, that article I linked states you need a 5000 series or newer GPU for AMD HD3D. It's possible that for the 3rd party stuff like Izod you don't need to upgrade. Also some monitors can do the 3D changes themselves, but it wouldn't look as good as a game supporting it natively with HD3D and it can induce more frame lag (though that shouldn't matter since a human's reaction time is like 250ms, so what is another 5ms?)

 

[nevertell]

SLI for 1080p 3D gaming at high settings.
Also, video memory over 1 gig is advised.

3D takes twice the graphics horsepower to produce the same quality image at the same effective framerate.

 

[wolfram23]

SLI for 1080p 3D gaming at high settings.
Also, video memory over 1 gig is advised.

3D takes twice the graphics horsepower to produce the same quality image at the same effective framerate.

First of all, why SLI? What if the OP doesn't want to spend $500, or what if he doesn't need Max settings?

Secondly, that's debatable. I understand your point is that each eye sees half the framerate, but that isn't really the same as saying you see half the framerate. Your brain pieces together the images, so it is seeing whatever framerate you are at, 60, 70, 100, 120, whatever... This is fairly subjective, of course, since brains and how they receive visual information and how that relates to "framerate" is impossible to empirically test (AFAIK).

Don't get me wrong, I'd probably aim for 100-120 fps if I went with 3D, but basically your advise ignores any and all constraints that the OP may have like budget and expectations. He was playing 3D on a PS3, meaning lower resolution, lower framerate, and lower graphics quality - yet he thought it was really awesome. I doubt he's planning to buy SLI 560 Tis and a 27" 3D monitor...

 

[ricardois]

To Ricardos: would I be able to use anything Nvidia since I currently have an ATI Radeon?
and to wolfram23 trust me I wanted the same ram but my Kingston is 1.9v and came with the computer which is an i7 and i7s dont like to run above 1.65v. So I acctually tried some more of the same exact ram even though it was hard to find and put them in, but when I did it crashed so i returned them and picked up some 1.5v kingston cuz thats all they were selling and fried 2 sets of them. Luckily they took them back and then I bought the corsair and it worked great ever since.
Now i figured I would have to get a new graphics card. Ricardo if you could elaberate a little more on the end product I would really appreciate it because Im a little bit lost. but wolfram would I be able to keep my graphics card I have now for some tasks and use the new graphics card for the majority of stuff or would that be pointless?

With ATI Radeon it is not possible to use Nvidia 3D Vision, only third party 3D Drivers, and they don't get close to nvidia 3D Vision, because the quality isn't the same and there are much more games you will be able to play with 3D Vision that will not even work on the others, so... if you really want to go for 3D Vision you will need a Nvidia Video Card.

Like was said before it is really very demanding, and you will see that not every game works in 3D, they have rating you can see that in this link:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision-games.html

So there are games that you will need to turn off shadows, or turn off AntiAliasing, sometimes only on low graphics, only the platinum games work on high settings with most of stuff activated.

If you change your graphics card for some nvidia, no, that Radeon card will do nothing, if it was the other way some people dedicate nvidia for physx. But like the spare card will be ati, it will be useless...

you will also need a 3D ready monitor, one of those...


So it is something you need to really think about, will that worth it? you will need to buy some 3D Vision ready monitor something like u$400, the 3D vision kit u$160 and some good nvidia card like 560+ price >= u$250 to be able to play with acceptable framerate.

But i can tell you, the gaming gets much more immersive. it is something completely different, worth the money if you got it.

i also have experienced it, and now i need it lol, i am waiting a little to check if 3D Vision 2 will launch more monitors, because nvidia already released one asus with Lightboost, that increases the image light and decreases crosstalk (ghosting) on the 3D... But at the moment there is only one monitor with that, 27" and almost u$700...

But you can go for 3D Vision one if you are in hurry and will be worth it...

 

[wolfram23]

I'm curious where you get your info from. I already posted a really good review of 3D gaming. Here's a little of the summary:

Not recommended for 3D (out of 18 games)
Nvidia: 5
HD3D: 3
"good" result:
Nvidia: 4
HD3D: 9
"excellent" result:
Nvidia: 9
HD3D: 5

Native HD3D: 2

It's 6 in one half a dozen in the other. The games that Nvidia work for, work great. Then there's games that don't work at all for it.

I can only say do some research before picking Nvidia or AMD hardware for 3D.

Doesn't have to be really pricey though. Samsung S23A700D=$370, 6870=$180 or 6950=$270 (1gb). Then you're all set - although that Samsung is a low quality monitor, to be honest. I had 3 S23A300B for eyefinity and returned them after a few days. 2 of them had dead pixels and the color didn't match between them and the stands have zero adjustments.

 

[ricardois]

I'm curious where you get your info from. I already posted a really good review of 3D gaming. Here's a little of the summary:

Not recommended for 3D (out of 18 games)
Nvidia: 5
HD3D: 3
"good" result:
Nvidia: 4
HD3D: 9
"excellent" result:
Nvidia: 9
HD3D: 5

Native HD3D: 2

It's 6 in one half a dozen in the other. The games that Nvidia work for, work great. Then there's games that don't work at all for it.

I can only say do some research before picking Nvidia or AMD hardware for 3D.

Doesn't have to be really pricey though. Samsung S23A700D=$370, 6870=$180 or 6950=$270 (1gb). Then you're all set - although that Samsung is a low quality monitor, to be honest. I had 3 S23A300B for eyefinity and returned them after a few days. 2 of them had dead pixels and the color didn't match between them and the stands have zero adjustments.

well first that HD3D are nothing more than www.ddd.com or www.iz3d.com, so they are not exclusive from amd, there are some games that have higher rating in 3D than nvidia 3D, but most of them have 3D Vision best rating, well anyways you can also use DDD or IZ3D on Nvidia cards... so if there is a specific game that your 3D Vision don't do like the other driver, you can change it...

http://www.mtbs3d.com/gg3d/ you can check some user feedbacks.

But of course, like i said before, if you don't want to go for nvidia you can still have a great 3D Experience, just make sure you got one good 3D monitor with glasses since you will not be buying the 3D Vision Kit... (make sure it is active 3D, passive 3D sucks...)

I agree with wolfram23, you need to do a really good research before start buying 3D hardware.

here is the list of AMD 3D ready monitor:
http://sites.amd.com/us/recommended/Pages/hd3d-panels.aspx

some of them are Passive 3D, working with polarization in glasses, just by using that when you play in 1080p, you will see 540p max on each eye, since you lost half of the resolution in the polarization for each eye... there are also some distance limitations.

Well you get it, do a good research before going for 3D.

 

[wolfram23]

Zalman has released a couple of 3D monitors that are passive, it's pretty cool tech.