Looking for a 3D Monitor and GPU

[Enty]

Okay so I've just recently gotten a job, and Christmas is around the corner which means a nice influx of money. I'm a huge computer enthusiast so what better way to spend it then on some much needed upgrades for my rig if I'm to run 3D and possibly multiple monitors.

So currently this is what I'm running:
Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster XL2370
CPU: i5-3570k @ 4GHz
Mobo: ASRock Z77 Extreme 6
Ram: 16GB G.Skill RipjawX @ 1600MHz
GPU: Sapphire Tecch Radeon HD 6950 (Flashed to 6970 BIOS) 2GB
PSU: XFX 750W PSU
Case: Antec DF-85

So my rig is pretty decent I suppose and it was built 2 years ago, except for the PSU and GPU those are from 3-4 years ago. So I've had my monitor for 4 years going on 5 and I think it's time for an upgrade considering my brother managed to rip out the HDMI so violently that it loosened the connector from the PCB inside the monitor, YAY! In lieu of getting a new monitor, I've started asking myself whether 3D was a good option. My experience with Stereoscopic 3D has been limited to a single play session on a 65 inch at my uncles house, when my cousin brought up his 360 so we could try CoD: BO in 3D. Needless to say It wasn't super impressive but the feature did pique my interest enough and has made me want to try it more.

With that I've decided to ask you guys if it's feasible for me to even run 3D with my current setup, I know that I'd first need a 3D monitor and that my GPU would have to be able to sustain 120FPS so it could send 60 FPS to each eye. MY GPU has held up really well over the past 3-4 years and has pretty much played everything I've thrown at it with almost 0 problems, but I'm not too confident it can do all that + 3D. Do I need to upgrade my GPU for 3D? If so I'd probably go with a 290X after we see how the aftermarket coolers preform, unless Nvidia 3D is that much better that it would warrant a switch to Nvidia.

Secondly, I'm currently in college studying Comp Sci, and programming is something I do on my spare time. So I thought a Dual monitor setup would be cool and help out. More screen real estate, plus the added benefit of playing games and having guides open on the second window. NOTE: NOT USING IT FOR EYEFINITY, I KNOW I'D NEVER BE ABLE TO HANDLE EYEFINITY + 3D! Thing is I'm not sure If I could essentially make this work. What I'd like my setup to be is this:


The third monitor strictly for console gaming, but also 3D. I'd prefer it to not be eyefinity so It wouldn't tax my GPU more, but If i run 2 monitors both 3D would it tax my GPU even when not in Eyefinity, rather as an extended display that would probably just duplicate the main screens game?

This brings me to another point. Can you use a PS3/X1/PS4/X360 with an nvidia 3D monitor, also can you use AMDHD3D with an Nvidia 3D monitor, or do I need a normal 3D monitor for them like a normal Sony or Samsung active/passive 3D monitor?

So please recommend anything you think would be good for me. Explain some pros and cons too would like to see what the community can help me with here. I'm pretty limited in knowledge of 3D monitors, and their requirements but normal monitors I'm pretty well versed in.


Some things to note are :

I'd probably use DisplayPort for the Computer monitors, and HDMI for the Console monitor.
I am a fan of Samsung/Sony/ASUS/Dell but ultimately I'll try and view the monitors myself after seeing suggestions so I can make a better decision for myself.

 

[CraigN]

There are some threads of people getting AMDHD3D to work on an Nvidia 3D monitor, with varying degrees of success. While I have Nvidia 3d on my own desktop, I will say it works at varying degrees of success, games definitely have to support it in some way. On the games it does work on, it's gorgeous.

I'm not sure how to answer your second question based on it's wording. You want to run the two monitors, with the second as an Extended Desktop for the extra browsing/coding real estate, and then play 3D games *on just one monitor*?

If YES, then no, you should not notice any noticeable extra taxing on your GPU while running 3D on *one* monitor and browsing on the other, or at least, I don't on my setup (27" Samsung non-3D monitor and a 24" ASUS VG248QE 3D monitor).

If you were running a 3D Game on *both* monitors attached to your GPU, yes you would notice additional taxing on your GPU.

PS3/PS4/X1/X360 *can't* do 3D on an Nvidia-3D monitor, because (to my knowledge) they can't interact with the Nvidia specific transmitter built into/sold separately for them. You would need a non-Nvidia 3D monitor with either passive/active for console 3D.

 

[Enty]

There are some threads of people getting AMDHD3D to work on an Nvidia 3D monitor, with varying degrees of success. While I have Nvidia 3d on my own desktop, I will say it works at varying degrees of success, games definitely have to support it in some way. On the games it does work on, it's gorgeous.

I'm not sure how to answer your second question based on it's wording. You want to run the two monitors, with the second as an Extended Desktop for the extra browsing/coding real estate, and then play 3D games *on just one monitor*?

If YES, then no, you should not notice any noticeable extra taxing on your GPU while running 3D on *one* monitor and browsing on the other, or at least, I don't on my setup (27" Samsung non-3D monitor and a 24" ASUS VG248QE 3D monitor).

If you were running a 3D Game on *both* monitors attached to your GPU, yes you would notice additional taxing on your GPU.

PS3/PS4/X1/X360 *can't* do 3D on an Nvidia-3D monitor, because (to my knowledge) they can't interact with the Nvidia specific transmitter built into/sold separately for them. You would need a non-Nvidia 3D monitor with either passive/active for console 3D.

Thanks for the quick reply. So I could technically use certain Nvidia 3D monitors with AMD's HD3D. You answered the second question perfectly, sorry for the shoddy wording. The reason I asked was because I have messed around with eyefinity before and I know when playing SC2 it just duplicates the game on the other screens. It doesn't allow you to use eyefinity. In a 3D scenario I'm guessing it'd output 3D to the other monitor as well which would only tax my GPU more. Damn this kind of sucks though, I was hoping I could get 3 of the same monitors and just use them all in 3D...

I want them to be the same monitor so it looks nice and pretty on my desk. I don't want one 27inch and one 24inch and then a normal TV for my consoles, I'd prefer them to all be the same size make and model. Have any suggestions that fit my needs? Another thing, you think my rig would be able to run 3D fine or do you think an upgrade is in order, maybe get another 6950 or upgrade the GPU all together?

 

[bystander]

The 6950 on its own is probably going to struggle with 3D, and since no monitor company is making active 3D displays for AMD anymore, you should probably go Nvidia. You can attempt to use 3rd party hacks and tools to get it working, but it will likely be a very frustrating experience and will likely result in subpar 3D.

There is this thread with a solution, but unfortunately, everyone after the first few posts, are those who cannot get it to work: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1661978/ultimate-gaming-solution-amd-users-vision-monitors.html

As to using the 3D monitor with your PC and PS3/4, then you'll need to get a monitor that has a built in emitter and has 3D support through the HDMI port as well. The Asus VG278H fits this bill. It is a 3D Vision 2 monitor that supports HD3D and the PS3 through HDMI, and Nvidia PC's through DVI-D.

So the best solution for all that you have is to purchase the Asus VG278H (I'm not aware of another with the built in emitter that is still sold), and purchase an Nvidia GTX 780 (ti) or 770 SLI.

As for 3D support. It is not great, I'd guess 1/3 of my games work great in 3D out of the box. However, there is a mod community that has fixed a lot of 3D games for 3D Vision. With the mod community, 1/2 to 2/3 of my games work great in 3D.
http://helixmod.blogspot.com/2013/07/game-list-full.html

 

[CraigN]

I only have the peculiar screen matchup because the 27" was a gift before i started college myself I just graduated in May, however, and picked up the VG248QE. I'm not sure I would recommend this for AMD3D though, I would say do some digging on HD3D supported monitors, or look around on other threads here about it, as I know there's been a few discussions on setting them up on Nvidia 3D monitors.

[Edit: just saw bystander's post] There are a couple BenQ 27" monitors that also come with the transmitter built in, but again, as I've never used one of those with a console, I'm unsure that they will work for Console 3D. They will *definitely* play consoles, just, not necessarily in 3D, since the transmitter is designed for the NVidia Vision 2 active shutter glasses.

However, if you do pick a Nvidia 3D monitor, I might actually recommend the VG248QE over the VG278H, because that way you're not buying 3x $400-$500 monitors, you're only buying 3x $250 monitors, and one $130 transmitter+glasses kit.

If you wanted to extend a game over multiple monitors, and then enable 3D, then yes, it'll run 3D on all the monitors (and tax your GPU). If you just want to play on ONE monitor, then it will not force 3D on the ones not playing a game and you should be fine. Good mention on helixmod. I had forgotten to mention that. Helixmod works great for Nvidia 3D.

But, ideally, yes, if you get 3x 3D monitors, you could run 3D on all three, but it will definitely tax your graphics card heavily. The rest of your rig sounds fine, but my experience with AMD cards is limited. I'm not wholly sure of the framerate performance on the 6950 to be able to tell you if that should get upgraded or not.

 

[Enty]

So I'm pretty much forced into Nvidia or I have to somehow find a monitor that is an active or passive 3d display that won't cost an arm and a leg that's also 23/24/27 inches... Wow they really make it hard for AMD customers to use 3D.

So after doing a bit of research I found these two
http://www.asus.com/us/Monitors_Projectors/VG27AH/
and
http://www.asus.com/us/Monitors_Projectors/VG23AH/

Both of which seem to be passive 3D monitors, so they should work out of the box with consoles and PCs, as long as they get the 3D image sent to them and I use the glasses? Or does it work different with the PCs?

 

[bystander]

If you go with passive, you'll be playing at 1920x540 (not a typo), which does make text hard to read. You also do not get all the fixes from the Helix mod: http://helixmod.blogspot.com/2013/07/game-list-full.html

Is there a reason you can't go with Nvidia? If you are ok with going passive, and being limited on the 3D games you have to choose from, then I guess AMD is for you. It just doesn't seem logical, unless you can't buy Nvidia for some reason.

 

[Enty]

No reason I can't switch to nvidia, I would've preferred to save the money instead of having to buy another GPU. That's really it. Also the fact that I'm a fan of AMD's price points over Nvidia's but I guess it can't be helped.

Do you know why its 1920x540? What hinders it from being 1080p?

 

[bystander]

It is 1920x540 in 3D, because passive systems post both left and right images on the screen at the same time. This means every other horizontal row is only visible by one eye or the other.

A 6950 would struggle with 3D anyways. Though I guess playing at medium to low settings is an option, but if you do upgrade the GPU, then there isn't anything holding you to AMD anyways.

Though I should say that while most people do not like passive 3D, at least for PC's, due to the lowered res and blurry text, there are a few that still like it.

 

[Enty]

So I just went to ASUS live support, and asked whether all of this was possible, and the support guy told me that the VG278H doesn't work even with the consoles. He said it needed to be connected to an Nvidia card that supports 3D. So basically I need an active 3d monitor, which pretty much doesn't exist!

 

[CraigN]

Like I mentioned before in my previous post - the VG278H *will* play consoles (as does my VG248QE) but *WILL NOT* play them in 3D.

 

[bystander]

So I just went to ASUS live support, and asked whether all of this was possible, and the support guy told me that the VG278H doesn't work even with the consoles. He said it needed to be connected to an Nvidia card that supports 3D. So basically I need an active 3d monitor, which pretty much doesn't exist!

Either the support person was flat wrong, he wasn't considering the HDMI Bluray/HD3D support, or he was thinking about the VG278HE. It is limited to 720p, but most consoles game at 720p anyways.

Here is a review on the VG278H (there are a lot of others that test the same feature):
http://www.mtbs3d.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12902:asus-vg278h-3d-monitor-review&Itemid=77#console

While a higher resolution would be a friend to any display this size, the ASUS VG278H still managed to work very well with Sony's PlayStation3. In fact, I think the 3D quality is better than what our 50" Panasonic VT20 plasma delivers. Why? Again, thanks to this upgraded shuttering technique, the image is much brighter, and this makes it easier to spot the game's details. For example, there is a level in Motorstorm Apocalypse that I just can't get past in 3D because the imagery is so dark and low contrast to begin with, the shutter glasses create a blindness handicap. Solutions like this (as well as polarized options) get around this problem. Sadly, I still suck at that game. ;=)

 

[Enty]

So right now my best option is ridiculously over priced at ~400 a monitor, not including the triple monitor stand or the new GPU I have to buy... Well shucks isn't that just great! I also found a BenQ monitor that has the IR emitter built into it the XL2420T so that'd be an alternative but it still comes in at a high price range. I didn't realize 3D was this damn expensive. And even the tiple monitor stands are priced ridiculously high even though it's not a relatively expensive thing to make.

 

[bystander]

So right now my best option is ridiculously over priced at ~400 a monitor, not including the triple monitor stand or the new GPU I have to buy... Well shucks isn't that just great! I also found a BenQ monitor that has the IR emitter built into it the XL2420T so that'd be an alternative but it still comes in at a high price range. I didn't realize 3D was this damn expensive. And even the tiple monitor stands are priced ridiculously high even though it's not a relatively expensive thing to make.

$400 for a 27" active 3D monitor is actually quite cheap.

Btw, that XL2420T does not come with an emitter or glasses, but the XL2420TX does, unless they renamed them at some point.

 

[CraigN]

Cheap for one - keep in mind, he want's three.

 

[bystander]

Cheap for one - keep in mind, he want's three.

I thought he wanted 3 total screens, but only 1 for 3D.

 

[bystander]

3d is shit, only good for the 120hz. =D

I assume you've never seen proper PC 3D Vision. It is awesome with the right games.

 

[Enty]

Yeah I wanted 3 matching screens, which is why I wanted them to be able to consoles and PC too. Oh well I guess it's just going to be a really expensive Christmas. Thank you guys for your help!