To 3d or not to 3d

[netstorm]

All,

Need a new gpu but can't decide whether to go for nvidia or ati

I want a 3d gaming setup but as far as i understand (and i am a bit of a nubbin) its either 3d vision and special monitor or go for the ati option and buy the drivers and potentially pair it with a standard 3dtv ( bigger screen but of course bigger price )

So does anyone have 3d vision and is it any good and equally does anyone have ati card and running 3dtv and is that any good.

Most comments will be appreciated unless they are just flaming me for being an idiot

[Zak33]

no flaming here chap, it's taken you 6 years to post!

welcome

If you have a 3d monitor and are prepared to buy the right games... maybe.

But tbh.. right now.... stick with a card you can afford, that performs right, and is cool enough, quiet enough that you want,... etc....power supply sufficient, case bifg enough etc.

I'll PM ferral as he's just built a new rig and is playing 3d games too on a new TV

[Ferral]

Few things to bear in mind with this one. First off if you are doing 3D on a monitor you need one that can do 120 Hz refresh rate and an Nvidia graphics card, then you will need the Nvidia 3D Glasses. I dont rightly know how ATI actually do the 3D stuff so cant comment on it as I'm in the green corner.

Another way is connecting your PC to a 3DTV using a HDMI cable direct from your GPU (This way it doesnt matter whether it is ATI or Nvidia), HDMI cable has to be 1.4 specification. Then of course you will need a 3D TV and glasses. You will need to make sure that the TV you get supports the active shutter (IMAX style 3D) not REAL3D, so effectively one of the 2011 model TV's are your best bet as I believe all are active shutter now.

So far I have played Killzone 3 and Hustle Kings in 3D on my PS3 and must admit its impressive. Best way to describe it is you cant see the flat screen on the TV at all. Its like a box you can reach into. Watching movies and TV in 3D is quite cool, nothing major on Sky3D at the moment though, best thing I have seen is the darts that was on the other week, when the camera was facing the player and they threw the dart it actually came out the screen at you! Movies on Bluray are few and far between at the min, mainly Disney stuff is getting the proper 3D, so Far Alice and Tron are the main ones, its the version the has the red outer bit on the sleeve when you see them in a store.

Trouble with some of the 3D movies on Bluray is that they are still shipping with the old 2 tone glasses in the box, so if you do decide to go down this route with the 3DTV make sure you get the right 3D version of a movie!

[scaryjim]

I dont rightly know how ATI actually do the 3D stuff so cant comment on it

I'll pick up that one then

ATI basically use programming hooks in their drivers so a third-party 3D solution can be run through their cards. The up-side of this is that you have a lot more choice than with nvidia. The downside is... that you have a lot more choice than with nvidia

The benefit of nvidia's package is that they tell you exactly what to buy, the disadvantage is that you're tied into a 120Hz monitor and active shutter glasses. They have their own unique problems, not limited to the fact that each eye only gets a 60fps refresh rate, and the 3D imiages have to be synced to that so if your graphics card isn't powerful enough to keep pushing the frames out your FPS start dropping as the scene tries to keep sync with the glasses. Also a lot of people find the 60Hz flashing to each eye, which you inevitably get with shutter glasses, gives them migraines.

I believe the preferred option with ATI is usually the Zalman TRIMON monitor and the iZ3D driver pack: this is a circular polarization display with passive glasses (just like you get at the movies) and as such it will deliver 3D in whatever framerate your graphics card pumps it out at. Of course, that doesn't mean that it won't give you headaches or make you seasick, but I believe there is *less* chance of those reactions with a passive 3D system.

But beyond that little inroduction you will have to do the research into the details yourself, I'm afraid - 3D gaming isn't something that appeals to me at the minute!

[jjgreenwood]

I've had the nvidia solution for 18 months. While it is awesome when it works I wouldn't buy it if I was to do it again. When you first get it you will be amazed but for it to work properly you either need to trim down the quality settings or invest in some heavy gpu cards. The biggest issue however, is with the nvidia support. If you want to game in 3d you do have to wait a long time before the game drivers work properly. Also very few games recently released seem to have a good 3d performance. Nvidia recently made a big deal of witcher 2 being 3d ready, I can tell you it isn't.

As a result I end up playing most games in 2d. 3d requires dedication which I simply don't have. When it works its fantastic and the biggest improvment in graphics that you will see. The trouble is most the time it doesn't. Games that used to work break with later driver releases meaning you have to select the right driver for the right game.

I haven't had any problems with migranes, what I will say is gaming in 3d is a lot more intense so you need to rest more than with 2d gaming. It does transform the game from another shooter into an experience. You do feel like you're in the middle of the game and makes the likes of metro 2033 plain scary. BFBC2 single player becomes a different experience and you won't need lots of AA as everything is pin sharp. Online it hinders rather than helps due to frame rate and awareness issues. Obviously RPG's work well and fable 3 looks awesome.

But having said all this if I was to do it again I probably wouldn't. I'd either spend the money on a good 27" high res display or run an eyefinity setup.