1x 670 2GB enough for 3D?

[cookybiscuit]

I was interested in 3D, but I'm a massive FPS whore and don't know if its worth it on whats probably considered a weak setup for 3D. Setup is a Asus non-top 2GB 670, i5 2320 and 8GB RAM, at the moment I don't think theres a game I've got that it hasn't been able to do 1080p Ultra 60FPS, other than Skyrim loaded with mods, so I'm pretty happy with it.

I tried the 3D Vision discover thing or whatever its called on a couple of games to see what it ran like, had to drop to 768p and use FXAA over MSAA to maintain 60FPS in Black Ops 2, Skyrim dropped about 20FPS, MW2 didn't change. Is the performance hit from the anaglyph mode the same as it would be from the proper stereoscopic 3D? If it is I could just test them myself I suppose and see if I could deal with the performance drop.

If not, is it worth it on my setup? Can anyone with 3D Vision say if they like it or not?

Thanks alot.

 

[bystander]

I have a 3D Vision setup now, so I may be able to help answer some of your questions. I've played it with a single 680 and 680 SLI. I have not played Black Ops 2, but I have played Skyrim.

First off, Skyrim out of the box, does not do well in 3D. At least not with the patches. However, there is a mod community that has done work on several games to make them more compatible. Skyrim is one of the games that is mostly fixed (Only a few out of the way locations have any issues at all). Go here for fixes and a tool to help fix your own 3D games: http://helixmod.wikispot.org/gamelist
That fix doesn't work as well for AMD system HD3D, but some work for it as well.

As far as performance goes. 2GB is plenty, as long as you don't mod the heck out of Skyrim. I've not run into issues with any games yet, but then again, I don't mod much.

However, Skyrim in 3D on a single 680 required me to play at high without any AA, FXAA included. The good news is that in 3D AA is less needed, as the fact that two images are melded together in your mind seems make jaggies less noticeable. I also thought that 3D Vision added more visual immersion than extra visual settings. For the most part, you can turn off any AA or DoF setting in any game and be better off than without 3D. DoF is a depth perception technique which is rendered obsolete with 3D, and AA as I mentioned before, is not as important.

Other games, like Metro 2033, I played at medium settings with a single 680, so I could maintain near 60 FPS at all times. With 680 in SLI, I play at high settings. I still find it better than 2D, but your mileage will vary. I played Crysis 2 maxed, which is unusual for 3D Vision, but Crysis 2 uses something similar to virtual 3D, rather than fully rendering 2 images. It still looks amazing. Batman AA required me to go without AA and Batman AC required me to lower settings quite a lot, but then again, I have it lowered no matter how I play the game as some settings are buggy.

 

[cookybiscuit]

Really appreciate the insight. I should be good with my 670 then, after a bit of overclocking. Thanks.