Sorry if this is yet another "which card to get?" thread in a sea of similar noise. I apologize in advance for the length of the post, but there are a number of factors I'd like folks to weigh in on. But, I'm hoping that people with some direct experience with some of the more edge-case technologies might be able to help out.
Basically, I'd like to put together a computer within a month or two that would be capable of handling both surround on three 1920x1200 monitors, and active shutter/DLP link 3D on a 120Hz, non HDMI 1.4a projector. Ultimately, I'd like to have the freedom to switch application - use the surround for information intensive games and higher immersion playing solo, and then swing over to the big screen for faster action or with company. Movie viewing on the big screen, and reporting and research data sprawled across three monitors are also big draws.
I know this isn't the best time to upgrade, but it's starting to look like 28nm at TSMC is going to take a while. The rest of the system is mostly complete/designed, and was picked up in pieces, mainly because I was willing to wait and see what new GPU's did to the landscape. I'm beginning to feel trapped in the perpetual waiting game, however, and want to get this done.
Rest of the system is likely a 2500/2600K, Asus Z68 pro board, Corsair 1050 PSU, etc. I already have three matching 19x12 PVA monitors and a projector all set up, though not together at present. The machine won't be 100% gaming, but probably 75%.
I'm pretty familiar with the lay of the land for existing cards, and would be willing to lurk around and snipe for deals - within reason. The two main deciding factors for me boil down to surround support and quality and 3D applications.
Surround wise, AMD cards have higher stock memory, key for surround applications at high res, but NVIDIA have variant cards from AIB's that double up stock memory, which just makes their price point...funny. Software support for surround seems roughly similar at this point, with outlier games getting patched if they're new enough. Running three monitors off a single card with ATI vs. SLI with NVIDIA is moot, because I've pretty much accepted that multi-card horsepower is going to be required to push higher end titles at these resolutions, and my monitors are DVI anyway.
3D wise, basic consensus is that NVIDIA has a more polished, more complete solution. I have experience using the AMD preferred path of going through a third party driver, iZ3D, and it's very hit or miss. I have one of their monitors, so have experience with the software and general 3D landscape, and the last time I tried to get even one simple game out of my library running with the 120Hz projector on my 6850, I lost four or five hours of my life and had enough driver/computer crashes that I had to repair windows components. I haven't gone back and tried again. That being said, it's possible a fresh W7 install on a new machine and potential change to TriDef might make that better, but I'm not wholly convinced. 3D vision appears to work more consistently, perhas with rendering artifacts from developer shortcuts, but at least work. Another drawback for AMD 3D applications is that there is no Crossfire support at all, and most titles don't work in DX10/11 with either AMD third party driver set up.
That being said, I'm looking for feedback, potentially from those that have experience with either technology, preferably both. Budget wise, I'm flexible. A pair of 3GB 580's is out of my price range, but I'd be willing to look at either a pair of 6950 or 6970's vs a pair of 2.5GB 570's. Alternately, I'd also be willing to try a spacer card or cards to tide until the next gen some time in ... what, probably Feb-March at this point? Perhaps a pair of 6870's, 2GB 560's or the like.
Creative solutions are welcome, and if anyone has any questions about preferences, holler. I'm curious to harvest the mind share.
Basically, I'd like to put together a computer within a month or two that would be capable of handling both surround on three 1920x1200 monitors, and active shutter/DLP link 3D on a 120Hz, non HDMI 1.4a projector. Ultimately, I'd like to have the freedom to switch application - use the surround for information intensive games and higher immersion playing solo, and then swing over to the big screen for faster action or with company. Movie viewing on the big screen, and reporting and research data sprawled across three monitors are also big draws.
I know this isn't the best time to upgrade, but it's starting to look like 28nm at TSMC is going to take a while. The rest of the system is mostly complete/designed, and was picked up in pieces, mainly because I was willing to wait and see what new GPU's did to the landscape. I'm beginning to feel trapped in the perpetual waiting game, however, and want to get this done.
Rest of the system is likely a 2500/2600K, Asus Z68 pro board, Corsair 1050 PSU, etc. I already have three matching 19x12 PVA monitors and a projector all set up, though not together at present. The machine won't be 100% gaming, but probably 75%.
I'm pretty familiar with the lay of the land for existing cards, and would be willing to lurk around and snipe for deals - within reason. The two main deciding factors for me boil down to surround support and quality and 3D applications.
Surround wise, AMD cards have higher stock memory, key for surround applications at high res, but NVIDIA have variant cards from AIB's that double up stock memory, which just makes their price point...funny. Software support for surround seems roughly similar at this point, with outlier games getting patched if they're new enough. Running three monitors off a single card with ATI vs. SLI with NVIDIA is moot, because I've pretty much accepted that multi-card horsepower is going to be required to push higher end titles at these resolutions, and my monitors are DVI anyway.
3D wise, basic consensus is that NVIDIA has a more polished, more complete solution. I have experience using the AMD preferred path of going through a third party driver, iZ3D, and it's very hit or miss. I have one of their monitors, so have experience with the software and general 3D landscape, and the last time I tried to get even one simple game out of my library running with the 120Hz projector on my 6850, I lost four or five hours of my life and had enough driver/computer crashes that I had to repair windows components. I haven't gone back and tried again. That being said, it's possible a fresh W7 install on a new machine and potential change to TriDef might make that better, but I'm not wholly convinced. 3D vision appears to work more consistently, perhas with rendering artifacts from developer shortcuts, but at least work. Another drawback for AMD 3D applications is that there is no Crossfire support at all, and most titles don't work in DX10/11 with either AMD third party driver set up.
That being said, I'm looking for feedback, potentially from those that have experience with either technology, preferably both. Budget wise, I'm flexible. A pair of 3GB 580's is out of my price range, but I'd be willing to look at either a pair of 6950 or 6970's vs a pair of 2.5GB 570's. Alternately, I'd also be willing to try a spacer card or cards to tide until the next gen some time in ... what, probably Feb-March at this point? Perhaps a pair of 6870's, 2GB 560's or the like.
Creative solutions are welcome, and if anyone has any questions about preferences, holler. I'm curious to harvest the mind share.
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