3d surround advice needed

[Zebrastealer]

Hi all,

I’m thinking of jumping onto the nVidia 3d surround wagon. I’ve been hoping that ATI would get their 3d initiative going and wanted to grab a 6900 series card, however my current monitor just died so I need to get a new one pronto. Since ATI doesn’t have any 3d monitors in the US yet I’m thinking of switching to nVidia. I’ve read the benchmarks I could find and read all the posts and reviews as well but am still uncertain which setup to go with, hopefully some of you with more experience here can give me some advice. Affordability is pretty crucial so I can’t go with a triple 480 SLI setup like some of you.

Which option would give me more usable performance running three 1900x1080 120hz monitors in 3d?
470 dual SLI running
460 2 GB version dual SLI

They would be pretty close in price, the 460’s would be about $60 cheaper total. Reading about VRAM limitations at high resolution it seems there might not be as much difference in performance as one would otherwise expect? Is that true? Thanks for the advice!

(Note I tried posting this once before and it didn't show up, hopefully there isnt' a delay and I double post)

[Paradigm Shifter]

For 3D, it's going to be framerates that are the killer - 460s just won't cut it at 5760x1080 and maintain the double-normal-framerate that 3D requires to be playable. That said, I'm not sure 470s would cut it either.

While I can't test 3D Surround out, I think I can get some 470SLI results in the next few days to compare to my 2GB 460 results of earlier.

...

On the not-shown-up post thing - we're getting bombarded with spam from some really intelligent new ones; easily 75% of all the new members we're getting at the minute are spammers, so we're running in post-moderation mode for new members at the minute to combat this. :) That makes the forums a lot nicer for all as spam doesn't get through, but if all the mods are busy IRL, it can be a few hours before things get OK'd. :(

[Zebrastealer]

Thanks for the reply, I'd certainly be curious about the 470 SLI results if you have the time to run some benchmarks!

I read a couple review on pcper.com that seemed promising with regards to 470 3D possiblities - here is the link to the review -

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=947

I'm really leaning toward a SLI GTX 470 gigabyte SuperOverClock setup. From the reviews this card sound outstanding for a GF100 card - great components, quiet, and reasonable temps with the custom cooler - even overclocked.

Still, I'd much prefer to hear the experience from a third party.

Thanks again!

[Zebrastealer]

Me again, well after a lot if second guessing myself I went ahead and ordered 2 GTX480's for SLI. Got a decent deal on them, with rebates and newegg discount the MSI was $390 (370 after mail in rebate) with Mafia 2 and the Asus was $379 (359 after mail in rebate - repeaters cause of better deal)! I was considering the GTX 580's when the initial rumors stated the price would be $499, but now the rumors all say $599 - too much premium for an extra 20 % performance I Think.

Now I just have to figure out how to buy 2 more acer monitors and keep my wife from noticing........

[Gaboo]

Hi There,

I'm in a similar position, debating about which dual card configuration to go with for 2D surround with 3x 1980x1080. I'm hoping dual 470s will be enough for high quality 5760x1080 2D. But, after reading the results of the dual 460s 1GB vs 2GB test, I'm a little nervous that the 470s may not be up to the job.

Welcome any advice or perfromance results on dual 470s at 5760x1080 for 2D surround.

Thanks, G.

[Zebrastealer]

Newegg has the asus gtx480 on sale for $419 you can get another 10% off with this discount code (you may need to sign up for the discount emails to use it) EMCZZYR24. Plus you get a $20 mail in rebate and the mafia 2 game for free. I signed up for 2 accounts so I could get the discount on 2 cards. Pretty good deal, close to $300 after discounts.

[Paradigm Shifter]

I'm neck deep in a load of garden DIY and a full scratch-rebuild of a P180 at the minute, although both are nearly done, so... GTX470 results (at least preliminary) Sunday... Monday maybe? *crosses fingers*

[matrices]

I run GTX 470 SLI (albeit heavily OC'd on water) with three 19x12 monitors and I can say that it's a very good experience. There are a couple games where going super widescreen forces a real reduction in IQ - Crysis/Warhead and Metro - but outside of that, I can pretty much max out most things in most games and use 2-16xAA.

As far as 3D *and* Surround goes, I tried to research that myself, but very few people actually seem to be running 3D, never mind 3D with Surround. What's clear from the Nvidia forums, though, is that the drivers are currently broken and will apparently stay broken for months in terms of 3D+Surround support for a considerable number of games. Basically, some weird bug that reduces performance to 15 FPS.

[tricky]

Dual 470s have been great so far, everything at 5040x1050 except Crysis Warhead, which I run at 3840x800 (in Enthusiast Mode, looks soooo much better than DX9 mode)...

[Paradigm Shifter]

I'm in the process of working with Scan to diagnose exactly why GTX470 SLI means that my system refuses to boot with a picture on the monitor, or results in serious desktop corruption as soon as SLI or Surround are enabled. Have been since last Monday. :(

If GTX460 SLI/Surround works, I see no reason why GTX470 SLI/Surround shouldn't - but it won't, no matter what I do.

[Zebrastealer]

Well I went ahead with the SLI 480 GTXs (along with upgrading to a I7 950, 8 GBs ddr3 and a x58 motherboard), I only have one monitor right now - the acer 23.6 inch 3d monitor. I have a boat load of games but have been playing Metro 2033 all weekend. Pretty good game, although the framerates even suffer with 3d on a 1920x1080 monitor (had everything maxed but had to dial down a bit for consistent performance). I'm suprised the 480's SLI'd can't run it perfectly..guess I'll have to pick up that 3rd 480.....

A couple observations - the cards are not as noisy as I thought they would be hearing the reviews - granted they are noiser than the watercooled 4870x2 I had before, but it isn't horrible. They do generate a lot of heat, fine for the winter time, but I'm going to have to switch to water cooled by the spring otherwise my computer room will be a sauna.

Can't wait to pick up 2 more monitors, but I can't drop another $700 right now..hoping Newegg puts the Acers on sale again soon for $300.