3D HDTV Graphic card purchase?

[raj-rios]

For gods sake help me experts, you're my only hope!

I have 1 19'' VGA monitor and 1 47'' PASSIVE 3D HDTV. I cannot stress the word passive enough.

I am in desperate need of a video card upgrade to play some new games with my friends, and I want a few features to match my setup. My wife is getting a new monitor, and if I can use it I'll have another matching 19'' VGA monitor.

I would like a card capable of 3 independent screens, and also be able to play 3D games on my passive 47'' 3D HDTV. I have read that NVidia leads in 3D, but doesn't support more than 2 monitors. I have also read that ATI supports more than 2 monitors, but requires you to buy 3rd party 3D software. I heard a rumor that the new ATI drivers had this built in, but I can't find any good information. I've been using both brands for a long time, and I can affirm that ATI has shitty drivers, almost all the time.

My budget is about 100-250 Dollars/Euros/Pounds, it's all about the same. I have seen 1 NVidia card (GF GTX 560 MULTIVIEW 1GB DDR5) that can support 3 displays, but I don't know if it will support them the way I mentioned above, 2 VGA and 1 3D HDMI. I have also read that the HD6xxx series is 3D capable, and has (as always) the ability to support more than 2 monitors. Comparable performance and price, I've been looking at the HD 6870. If I can get these features and similar performance for less money, I'd be happy to settle for a 6859, 6770, etc. I simply do not know which of these card will do what I need, and the limiting factor is,

My MOBO only has 1 PCI-e slot, and all I can afford is a single graphics card. I can't afford to buy a new MOBO to support SLI to use NVIDIA Surround Vision prior to the GTX590.

Please guys and gals (though there are no girls on the internet) I really need some help, I've been researching this for over 16 hours straight and I'm brain fried in a dead end. My friends are losing patience for me to join them, and if I don't make a decision soon my wife will leave me and take my dog.

Thank you all sincerely for the input,
-RAJ

 

[matter37]

Ok, first off, do you plan on playing games using Nvidia surround/eyefinity with the 3 monitors, if you do dont expect amazing performance with one card, also same goes for 3D, there will be a drop in performance depending on settings as well, dont get any amd cards if you plan on using eyefinity, because that requires having a displayport being used, now i ask, Where did you read nVidia doesnt support 3 monitors?, most of their current cards do i believe, for playing games in 3D at your budget and a card that supports 3 monitors I recommend a GTX 560 Ti: Heres a really good one, specifically:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127616
also, i think any card can run the 3 independently, anyways, since you plan on playing games in 3d, definitely go for the 560Ti since its in your budget range

 

[jaguarskx]

Just be aware that HDTV do not operate the same way as monitors. At best playing games on a 120Hz HDTV will get you 60FPS. That's because HDTVs only accepts 60Hz inputs or 60 frames per second. 120Hz HDTVs does internal processing to double the video output. This creates input lag in games.

In 3D mode the 60 frames get cut in half; 30 frames per eye to create a 3D image. That means max performance will be 30FPS.

 

[raj-rios]

Just be aware that HDTV do not operate the same way as monitors. At best playing games on a 120Hz HDTV will get you 60FPS. That's because HDTVs only accepts 60Hz inputs or 60 frames per second. 120Hz HDTVs does internal processing to double the video output. This creates input lag in games.

In 3D mode the 60 frames get cut in half; 30 frames per eye to create a 3D image. That means max performance will be 30FPS.

Thanks a lot for the reply Jaguar. My 3D HDTV is 600Mhz, it's pretty fantastic for gaming IMO. Also, as I tried to stress before, it's a PASSIVE 3D HDTV, meaning there is no active shutter, both eyes see the full FPS. Any ideas on my dilemma on how to get NVidia 3D support with ATI multi monitor support?

 

[raj-rios]

Ok, first off, do you plan on playing games using Nvidia surround/eyefinity with the 3 monitors, if you do dont expect amazing performance with one card, also same goes for 3D, there will be a drop in performance depending on settings as well, dont get any amd cards if you plan on using eyefinity, because that requires having a displayport being used, now i ask, Where did you read nVidia doesnt support 3 monitors?, most of their current cards do i believe, for playing games in 3D at your budget and a card that supports 3 monitors I recommend a GTX 560 Ti: Heres a really good one, specifically:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127616
also, i think any card can run the 3 independently, anyways, since you plan on playing games in 3d, definitely go for the 560Ti since its in your budget range

Hey Matter, only the 47'' is 3D, the other 2 are standard LCD screens. I don't play a lot of brand new high end games, but I want to be able to play older or less demanding games on full graphics, like Tera, Diablo 3, some older flight simulators, and I might give Battlefield 3 a try, and I don't mind medium graphics if thats a heavy game.
I have read absolutely everywhere (and had personal experience with older NVidia cards) that NVidia does not support more than 2 monitors, aside from the special "GF GTX 560 MULTIVIEW 1GB DDR5" which has a special "IDT VMM1402" chip allowing it to use 3 displays, however 2 must be HDMI, and the 3rd can be either DP or DVI. That won't work with my setup. As you said, I would love a 560TI, if they supported 3 displays. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/326781-15-asus-gtx560-directcu-monitors
I was not able to find out how ATI supports 3 monitors, if they must all be digital or need to use DP adapters or whatnot, and I also still can not find good info on whether or not they support 3D gaming without spending 200 on 3rd party software yet.

Thanks a ton for all the help everyone!

 

[jaguarskx]

Thanks a lot for the reply Jaguar. My 3D HDTV is 600Mhz, it's pretty fantastic for gaming IMO. Also, as I tried to stress before, it's a PASSIVE 3D HDTV, meaning there is no active shutter, both eyes see the full FPS. Any ideas on my dilemma on how to get NVidia 3D support with ATI multi monitor support?

Since your HDTV is 600Hz I'll assume it's plasma. It still only accepts 60Hz input and the actual output will still be 60Hz. Therefore, that means at most 30FPS per eye to combine into a 3D image.

The 600Hz more or less refers to the response time of the pixels which means they can flicker up to 600 times per second. That should help with motion blur that can occur in high action movie scenes, but in the end it has no effect on the maximum frames per second other than there's a 60Hz cap in regular mode and 30Hz cap in 3D mode.

Not sure how nVidia 3D support works with a 3D passive HDTV.

 

[raj-rios]

It's a LED side lit LCD screen, response time from input is listed as 2 MS, with a measured input to display lag (after ghosting) of only 20ms. This is a PASSIVE screen, meaning that there are no active shutter goggles, both eyes see the screen refresh at the same rate, meaning if it's displaying 60FPS, I'm seeing 60FPS, correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't play fast graphics intense games on my PC. I know this is sacrilege, but I prefer a gaming console over most PC games. I don't need a $1200 gaming card, I don't need a new i7 extreme, 3 matching NVidia sponsored 3D active shutter LCD monitors, I'm fine with my display hardware, aside from the card itself, which cannot support what I want to do. I have already been using my HDTV in 2D mode for all the games I play, and it works perfectly well, even better than I had hoped for. It has a PC mode which reduces input lag to where I don't see it respond any slower than my LCD monitors. And in PC mode it is still capable of displaying 3D images, so I just need a video card capable of producing them, while supporting 2 separate VGA monitors as well. It can support native 3D, Side By Side 3D, and Top and Bottom 3D, where the images are split and fed both at the same time next to each other, so any real 3D capable card should be fine, finding one that supports 3 monitors would be the tricky part.

The GF GTX 560 MULTIVIEW 1GB DDR5 is the best I've found from NVidia (for under 500 bucks anyways), but it turns out it requires 2 of the outputs to be HDMI, then the 3rd can be either DVI or DP. That won't work, since both of my monitors are VGA, and only my HDTV uses HDMI (1.4 BTW.)

It seems all ATI cards support 3 monitors, but I cannot find out if they support 2 VGA and 1 HDMI, even through DVI to VGA adaptors. I also cannot find out if ATI now supports 3D without 3rd party software, a question I thought would have been easily answered by you experts

I am still looking and hoping, and if I can provide any additional info please let me know. But I assure you all, my TV is not the bottleneck in the setup, and if I get 60FPS I'd be ecstatic, and even at 30 FPS I'd be happy. Thank you!

 

[jaguarskx]

Only AMD Radeon HD cards that specifically state "Eyefinity" will support 3 monitors; and that support typically begins with "entry level" performance cards like the Radeon HD 6770 and not all HD 6770s supports Eyefinity. Not sure where Eyefinity support starts in the HD 7000 series.

Eyefinity requires the use of the following digital ports. The VGA (D-Sub) port is not supported.

DVI / DVI / DisplayPort
DVI / HDMI / DisplayPort.

You need to purchase 3D drivers separately for AMD cards. The last time I bothered to look there was a 16 - 20 step process to setup 3D with AMD cards.

 

[bystander]

The problem I see is the VGA inputs, but wasn't as sure about AMD's requirements. Nvidia, on their single card solutions, require digital inputs. VGA is not, and a converter won't change that.

 

[raj-rios]

I bought a NVidia 560 OC for 160 bucks, and if I want another monitor for chat and web browsing, I figure I can just toss a cheap PCI card in a free slot. What do you guys think?