Best Value Nvidia GPU for 50 Inch 600mhz Plasma Monitor ?

[Swbf2cheater]

I game on my 50 inch panasonic viera plasma, its a 600mhz and equivalent to 240hz LEDs. I would like to play Borderlands 2 on the highest possible resolution and was looking at the GTX 660, but was not sure if something else might be in order or more well recommended for higher res + maxed physx gameplay.

I run an i7 960, 12gb ram rig and was hoping for a really great upgrade to my old 6950. I definitely need an Nvidia card, so any suggestions are appreciated. The MSI and Zotac GTX 660 standard edition go for around $210ish now, and I would consider running them in SLI if they outperform something like the GTX 670 alone.

Any advice?

 

[bystander]

According to this link, a 660 will do it: http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page3.html

And the GPU needed is the same as any other 1080p 60hz monitor. As far as PC gaming on your TV is concerned, you have a 1080p 60hz monitor and size makes no difference.

 

[Cons29]

dont know much about plasma, whether what you have equates to 240hz (tv's tend to interpolate, making things cheesy).
but you should at least get a 660Ti, nothing less. and yes even if that is a 70 inch, as long as it is 1080p, it is still the same as a 24inch monitor in 1080p.

but if that is indeed 240hz or even 120. a good gpu that can push >120 would help you a lot. things will be smoother

 

[bystander]

dont know much about plasma, whether what you have equates to 240hz (tv's tend to interpolate, making things cheesy).
but you should at least get a 660Ti, nothing less. and yes even if that is a 70 inch, as long as it is 1080p, it is still the same as a 24inch monitor in 1080p.

but if that is indeed 240hz or even 120. a good gpu that can push >120 would help you a lot. things will be smoother

No TV in production, that I'm aware of or can Goggle, supports more than 60hz at 1080p. The problem is they do not offer input ports capable of receiving more than 60hz of info.

 

[Cons29]

can 3d tv not handle 120hz or higher? just asking

 

[Swbf2cheater]

This line from that test makes me happy

"At 1920x1200, the GTX 660 Ti could be considered overkill as the GTX 660 was only 1% slower while being 30% cheaper."

The problem is they did not tell me how it would run with Physx enabled and running on a single 660 :[

 

[Cons29]

it depends on the game i think, and i havent really checked out the perf diff between 660 vs 660ti

 

[Swbf2cheater]

Yea, typically the Ti version is better by an avg. of 15fps, but not in BL2. The standard edition clocked in 1% slower on average than the TI version in the BL2 tests, so for me I think my gut instinct was right to eyeball the GTx 660...the problem is that I am not sure I can run PHYSX on high with just a single GTX660. I may have to get two, or another nividia card to handle as the physx rendering card...

 

[bystander]

can 3d tv not handle 120hz or higher? just asking

Like I already said, no.

TV's do not accept 120hz worth of input. They top out at 60hz, unless you are using 720p, then it can hit 75hz. The problem isn't that the TV display isn't capable of 120hz, they just have no way to receive that info due to limitation of their input connections.

 

[Swbf2cheater]

I went with dual Zotac GTX 660 gpus.

 

[cookybiscuit]

can 3d tv not handle 120hz or higher? just asking

Like I already said, no.

TV's do not accept 120hz worth of input. They top out at 60hz, unless you are using 720p, then it can hit 75hz. The problem isn't that the TV display isn't capable of 120hz, they just have no way to receive that info due to limitation of their input connections.

Actually, TV's that are compatible with Nvida 3DTV Play run at 120Hz 720p, as do the projectors that support the same thing. They do 1080p at 24Hz for movies.

 

[Swbf2cheater]

Mine is nvidia 3d ready the new 600mhz plasma from panasonic is as smooth as the 240 hz LED TVs out there, the motion smoother is excellent.

 

[bystander]

can 3d tv not handle 120hz or higher? just asking

Like I already said, no.

TV's do not accept 120hz worth of input. They top out at 60hz, unless you are using 720p, then it can hit 75hz. The problem isn't that the TV display isn't capable of 120hz, they just have no way to receive that info due to limitation of their input connections.

Actually, TV's that are compatible with Nvida 3DTV Play run at 120Hz 720p, as do the projectors that support the same thing. They do 1080p at 24Hz for movies.

Not exactly.

60hz in 3D is not the same as 120hz. In 3D, a frame requires 2 images, which are displayed back to back. Instead of sending images at 120hz, they send two images at 60hz, and once it gets to the monitor as a single transmission, they split the 2 images up, and display them back to back.

So they can do 3D at 60hz, which utilizes the 120hz display, but it cannot do 2D at 120hz, because that requires images to be received separately faster than it can handle.

 

[cookybiscuit]

I believe you are wrong on this, the only way a shutter system like the Nvidia one can work is by showing you the left image 60 times a second, and the right image 60 times a second, making a total of 120 refreshes. I can see the flicker the stupid health test asks you about, so at 60Hz it would be ridiculous.

If your talking about perceivable framerate, then yes it just looks the same as a 60Hz display, all shutter systems are limited to 60FPS for obvious reasons.

 

[bystander]

I believe you are wrong on this, the only way a shutter system like the Nvidia one can work is by showing you the left image 60 times a second, and the right image 60 times a second, making a total of 120 refreshes. I can see the flicker the stupid health test asks you about, so at 60Hz it would be ridiculous.

If your talking about perceivable framerate, then yes it just looks the same as a 60Hz display, all shutter systems are limited to 60FPS for obvious reasons.

Look up HDMI 1.4a or older and what they can handle. This would be simple if HDMI 1.4b was used, but unfortunately it isn't.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

You also failed to understand what I was talking about how they get around the problem.

Here is the issue. 3D at 60hz (per eye) is transmitted over HDMI at 60 FPS with the use of a technique called frame packing. Since HDMI 1.4a and before cannot receive more than 60 frames a second, they use the frame packing trick. Instead of sending the left and right images to the monitor separately, they pack them up and send them together. Then the monitor receives them at 60hz, and splits them up to be displayed sequentially.

The end result is that in 3D, you can get 60hz per eye (which combine to 120hz), but this trick will not work outside of 3D.

I was also confused by this at first, but I am not anymore and I have a monitor that allows me to test it as well, which I have. While it has a DL-DVI connection, it also supports HD3D through HDMI 1.4a. I also expected 120hz at 720 using HDMI, but it does not work.

 

[cookybiscuit]

I see what you mean now, know about the frame packing technique but thought you were saying they operate at 30Hz per eye.

 

[bystander]

I see what you mean now, know about the frame packing technique but thought you were saying they operate at 30Hz per eye.

No, in 3D, they consider both right and left images as a single frame. It takes a 120hz monitor to support 3D at 60hz. And an 3DTV can only handle 3D at 60hz (per eye) using frame packing, and still limited to 60hz in 2D because frame packing does not work for 2D gaming.

 

[Swbf2cheater]

3D is a non issue on my monitor, it looks great via 3D games and with 3D blurays. The new 600mhz plasma is "the same" and "equally as responsive" as a 240hz LED.

 

[cookybiscuit]

Just wondering, you are aware that LED is a method of backlight, and 240Hz is post processing rather than the display accepting a 240Hz input?

 

[Swbf2cheater]

Yes, I am aware.

The point I was trying to get at is that 120hz tvs look like crap compared to 240hz, especially the leds. Plasma tvs don't use the same methods as you said. But the new viera 600hz Plasma ( key word PLASMA ) is on par with and even exceeds the smoothness and clarity of 240hz leds. I've had all of the top led tvs, the best one out of the entire crop was the $1199 Panasonic Viera Plasma, which is a 600mhz tv. But, since it is plasma, that doesnt mean it is 3x as good as the 240hz LED. They are basically identical in responsiveness.

So, 3d anything by any source is the same on my Plasma as it is with 240hz LEDs. The 3D and motion smoothing features on my model is exceptional and far outclassed the Samsung D7000 LED tv. On large monitors, Anti Aliasing is a huge issue and you can really pick out the jagged edges on things much more easily than a 20 inch monitor for example. So, my original problem was finding a GPU that could handle the game absolutely maxed out in every way, including maxed physx.

Just one GTX660 cannot handle Borderlands 2 maxed out with maxed physx. Two can, so that is what I decided to go with. As for the 3D issue, I have no idea why anyone is arguing about it. It works great, it looks great, I am very happy with the 3D experience on my Viera. It looks insanely great. But, what really blows me away is the responsive motion smoother on this specific model that absolutely blew the Samsung D7K right out of the water, which by stark comparison looked jagged every time someone moved with washed out dry colors, where as the Viera plasma had by far the best dynamic colors range that was so vibrant and lush that I happy returned my expensive LED tv for this Plasma. 3D is a non issue for a tv like this, regardless if it is sourced by the gpu or a bluray player. It looks simply stunning.

 

[bystander]

The point I was trying to make is that while all that TV hardware is all nice and good, once you switch it on for a PC, it operates at 60hz. In 3D, you can get 60hz per eye at 720p, but not at 1080p. I also wanted to point out that 50" requires no more power than 20" when it comes to the PC, it is all the same if the resolution is the same. Plan accordingly.

 

[Swbf2cheater]

I understand. Either way, it looks great

On larger monitors, Anti Aliasing and jagged edges need to look their best. With that disabled, the experience is nasty, especially in the recent Tomb Raider game. I played through it all without TressFX and AA off, the experience was "meh" and the ugly edges were very apparent. But, not so apparent on a smaller monitor that I've seen on other peoples rigs. The GTX 660 SLI setup cost less than the single GTX 680. So, I am very happy and hope the cards last me at least a year.