Nvidia Surround Questions

[dmdordan]

Hey good people of Tom's

I'm getting close to being able to afford a surround setup and I'm trying to gather a little more info. I don't know very much about the setup of a 3D surround system so I need some help. My main question is what output ports to use.

My Build:
i5 4670k
2x4 memory
2-way SLI EVGA 760's
I'll be using 3 Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitors
I'd also like to connect my 42" Vizio as an accessory display to play blu rays, etc.

Overall I'm just wondering which ports to use for each display as there are 6 DVI ports, 2 HDMI ports, and 2 DP's between the two cards, keeping in mind that I want to use 3D and, and blu ray on the tv. Are all connections on the master card?

Anyways, any help is appreciated!

Also, a couple of things I've looked at that didn't really help:

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/3dvision-surround/system-requirements - Only refers to a single GPU. Won't let me change to SLI in the dropdown menu for some reason

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/how-to-correctly-configure-geforce-gtx-680-surround#1 - Seems helpful but it's referring to the 600 series, so I don't know if the same applies to the 700's

 

[CraigN]

For the VG248QE monitors, use either the DVI or the Display Port outputs so you get the 144Hz on all three monitors.

You should have all the connections you need from there. The same should apply to the 700 series, to answer your second question. You will have to make sure your TV supports 3D as well if you plan to use 3D to your 42" Vizio, and that will be supported through nVidia 3DTV Play.

Doubly keep in mind if you plan on doing 3D on the VG248QE, you will need to buy the Nvidia 3D Vision Kit if you haven't already, as the 248QE's do not come with the 3D transmitter.

Make sure your graphic drivers are up to date to do SLI. Also, what's your motherboard? If you're having issues with the drivers detecting your GPUs and offering you SLI even after updating them, you might be lacking SLI support.

 

[Mousemonkey]

The last time I looked it was stated that any monitors on the DP ports would not be part of the spanned display, when did that change?

 

[CraigN]

Is that true? I was not under the impression nvidia surround excluded DisplayPort monitors, but then again I haven't done as much reading since I've never used DisplayPort. In that case, use all the DVI ports.

Quick Edit:

Straight from Nvidia's surround setup page: "In 3D Vision Surround, any monitor connected to the DisplayPort output must use a DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter so that all three monitors are using Dual-Link DVI."

So you're right, they have to be converted to DVI. If only one of the DVI ports on the 760 is dual link (i'm not sure if that's the case, just saying IF) then you'll have to get an adapter for one of the DisplayPort ports to hook up the third VG248QE.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Nvidia and AMD/ATi do not use DP ports in the same way, just as they don't do many things the same way.

 

[dmdordan]

For the VG248QE monitors, use either the DVI or the Display Port outputs so you get the 144Hz on all three monitors.

You should have all the connections you need from there. The same should apply to the 700 series, to answer your second question. You will have to make sure your TV supports 3D as well if you plan to use 3D to your 42" Vizio, and that will be supported through nVidia 3DTV Play.

Doubly keep in mind if you plan on doing 3D on the VG248QE, you will need to buy the Nvidia 3D Vision Kit if you haven't already, as the 248QE's do not come with the 3D transmitter.

Make sure your graphic drivers are up to date to do SLI. Also, what's your motherboard? If you're having issues with the drivers detecting your GPUs and offering you SLI even after updating them, you might be lacking SLI support.

I appreciate the input from everyone. I think I'll use the DVI ports across the two cards, and HDMI port on the first card as per Nvidia's recommendation for a 600 series 3D surround +1 setup. In response to your question, my mobo is a Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Is that true? I was not under the impression nvidia surround excluded DisplayPort monitors, but then again I haven't done as much reading since I've never used DisplayPort. In that case, use all the DVI ports.

Quick Edit:

Straight from Nvidia's surround setup page: "In 3D Vision Surround, any monitor connected to the DisplayPort output must use a DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter so that all three monitors are using Dual-Link DVI."

So you're right, they have to be converted to DVI. If only one of the DVI ports on the 760 is dual link (i'm not sure if that's the case, just saying IF) then you'll have to get an adapter for one of the DisplayPort ports to hook up the third VG248QE.

I couldn't remember the exact wording but I knew there was something that meant the DP ports weren't the best option to use and for 3D it's the need for adapters and my bet is that no one knows which ones will work and which ones won't and also the setup for 2D is different as well, this is why I take the K.I.S.S approach and stick to gaming on a single monitor.