Trouble with Nvidia 3D Vision Surround and 4th Accessory Monitor
  3 / 3    
[quote="bo3b"][quote="cyberxxx"][quote="Pirateguybrush"]Just a heads up, a third card doesn't do anything in 3d. 3d works on one or two cards only, the third card is effectively ignored.[/quote]My own experience and this guy's benchmarks say otherwise http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=736793[/quote]Hey, thanks for sharing that link! Really terrific and interesting data there. We had a big discussion awhile back on Triple SLI, and the conclusion was mixed. Some tests seemed a little better a lot did not. That's what Pirate was referring too. Now in this test, I'd also like to point out that the part I really care about is [i]minimum[/i] frame rate. Like usual the tester focuses upon average, and really I could give a damn about average. The only thing that actually affects my play is minimum frame rate. You know, when all the bombs go off at once and I'm running. I need it to not lag right then. If you look carefully at his tables, not the graphs, you will see that Tri-SLI is actually not adding much value in most of his tests for the minimum frame rates. In a couple of tests, the min is actually substantially worse, like in Infinite. There is some really nice scaling with the third card in a couple of games, particularly Tomb Raider. That demonstrates that there are at least some scenarios where Tri-SLI can improve your minimum frame rate. So, the upshot is that it seems to be much more variable than I'd expect. In general, it is in fact helping in 3D, but it's not a slam dunk. Thanks again for sharing that.[/quote] I agree with what you say about frame rate. But it is hard enough to find any benchmarks that focus on 3d surround in dual and tri sli or even just 3d. My own experience since I added a third card has been mixed bag. After a lot or research and considerable thought, I went with a third card. This has provided substantial improvement in some older games, notably The Witcher 2, and not so much in newer games. Tombraider is an interesting example. When I added a third card there was no improvement whatsoever. All 3 cards were operating at about 70% as opposed to 99% for 2 cards with frame rates slightly less for an actual degradation over 2 cards . Yet, a few weeks ago I checked again after installing the 334.89 drivers and frame rates had jumped by 40% with utilization at 99%. Min frame rates had also improved. The point, of course being that scaling does tend to improve with the maturity of the drivers. Nonetheless I have been unable to duplicate Funsoul's Tombraider results. I get about the same frame rates(including Mins) as him, yet I am running superclocked Titans. So something else is going on. This is where the accessory monitor comes in, which of course is the point of this thread. At any rate, if you were to ask me if a third card is worth the money(and it is a Titan) I would say yes. To me at least. It is not that games are unplayable without it. But it gives me the ability to turn on more effects at decent frame rates. I can understand that others might be underwhelmed by the performance improvments I like to run a lot of monitoring software when I first start a new game. I used to use a G19 keyboard to do this, but it died so I went whole hog with a fourth monitor. At any time I might be running 4 different programs in an attempt to tease out the maximum performance of my system. This, of course causes a performance hit in itself. Usually about 7%. Once I have the game tweaked for frame rates and visuals, I turn off everything but EVGA Precision and start playing seriously. I do not like on screen display in the 3d displays. Yet since my poorly thought out downgrade to Win 8.1 last October I have endured first the famous accessory monitor crash and more recently the weird 3d on/off/upside down effect. I had thought this was specific to Win 8.1 but I see posters here with Win 7 which gives me some hope that a fix is in the works since the larger the number of users affected the more incentive Nvidia has to fix the problem. It has been 6 months now since I could effectively use my accessory monitor and I am getting angry. Sorry for ranting.
bo3b said:
cyberxxx said:
Pirateguybrush said:Just a heads up, a third card doesn't do anything in 3d. 3d works on one or two cards only, the third card is effectively ignored.
My own experience and this guy's benchmarks say otherwise


http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=736793
Hey, thanks for sharing that link! Really terrific and interesting data there.

We had a big discussion awhile back on Triple SLI, and the conclusion was mixed. Some tests seemed a little better a lot did not. That's what Pirate was referring too.


Now in this test, I'd also like to point out that the part I really care about is minimum frame rate. Like usual the tester focuses upon average, and really I could give a damn about average. The only thing that actually affects my play is minimum frame rate. You know, when all the bombs go off at once and I'm running. I need it to not lag right then.

If you look carefully at his tables, not the graphs, you will see that Tri-SLI is actually not adding much value in most of his tests for the minimum frame rates. In a couple of tests, the min is actually substantially worse, like in Infinite.

There is some really nice scaling with the third card in a couple of games, particularly Tomb Raider. That demonstrates that there are at least some scenarios where Tri-SLI can improve your minimum frame rate.

So, the upshot is that it seems to be much more variable than I'd expect. In general, it is in fact helping in 3D, but it's not a slam dunk.

Thanks again for sharing that.


I agree with what you say about frame rate. But it is hard enough to find any benchmarks that focus on 3d surround in dual and tri sli or even just 3d. My own experience since I added a third card has been mixed bag. After a lot or research and considerable thought, I went with a third card. This has provided substantial improvement in some older games, notably The Witcher 2, and not so much in newer games. Tombraider is an interesting example. When I added a third card there was no improvement whatsoever. All 3 cards were operating at about 70% as opposed to 99% for 2 cards with frame rates slightly less for an actual degradation over 2 cards . Yet, a few weeks ago I checked again after installing the 334.89 drivers and frame rates had jumped by 40% with utilization at 99%. Min frame rates had also improved. The point, of course being that scaling does tend to improve with the maturity of the drivers. Nonetheless I have been unable to duplicate Funsoul's Tombraider results. I get about the same frame rates(including Mins) as him, yet I am running superclocked Titans. So something else is going on. This is where the accessory monitor comes in, which of course is the point of this thread. At any rate, if you were to ask me if a third card is worth the money(and it is a Titan) I would say yes. To me at least. It is not that games are unplayable without it. But it gives me the ability to turn on more effects at decent frame rates. I can understand that others might be underwhelmed by the performance improvments

I like to run a lot of monitoring software when I first start a new game. I used to use a G19 keyboard to do this, but it died so I went whole hog with a fourth monitor. At any time I might be running 4 different programs in an attempt to tease out the maximum performance of my system. This, of course causes a performance hit in itself. Usually about 7%. Once I have the game tweaked for frame rates and visuals, I turn off everything but EVGA Precision and start playing seriously. I do not like on screen display in the 3d displays. Yet since my poorly thought out downgrade to Win 8.1 last October I have endured first the famous accessory monitor crash and more recently the weird 3d on/off/upside down effect. I had thought this was specific to Win 8.1 but I see posters here with Win 7 which gives me some hope that a fix is in the works since the larger the number of users affected the more incentive Nvidia has to fix the problem. It has been 6 months now since I could effectively use my accessory monitor and I am getting angry. Sorry for ranting.

#31
Posted 03/18/2014 02:23 PM   
@cyberxxx, ya, thanks for the link @bo3b, :) Ya,I was fiddling with some rookie testing on PhysX and Surround and my 3x680 a while back. Interesting info how it differs better or worse 3xsli (yes, low Frame Rate not average). Wonder if Physx was part of the lower numbers in BI? Huh, anyway, I may get back to a Metro game at some point and put the surround on 2x680's and Physx on the 3rd. Thanks for the reminder for some late night fiddling in any case!
@cyberxxx, ya, thanks for the link
@bo3b, :)

Ya,I was fiddling with some rookie testing on PhysX and Surround and my 3x680 a while back. Interesting info how it differs better or worse 3xsli (yes, low Frame Rate not average). Wonder if Physx was part of the lower numbers in BI? Huh, anyway, I may get back to a Metro game at some point and put the surround on 2x680's and Physx on the 3rd.

Thanks for the reminder for some late night fiddling in any case!

#32
Posted 03/18/2014 06:15 PM   
Accessory monitor knocks out 3D surround; running 3D wizard with accessory connected generates warning message (WARNING: you are trying to run stereo 3D on a non stereo mode...wording is bit off but if you have seen it you know which one I mean) and the wizard cannot be completed. Disabling the accessory monitor allows 3D wizard completion and 3D surround runs perfectly (3 ways work: unplug the 4th monitor, turn off the monitor, uncheck the accessory monitor in the Nvidia control panel so it is not recognized). If I don't enable 3D, all four monitors work fine, including 2D surround + accessory. FYI: I am running 2 X SLI GTX 780 6 gb with 3 Asus 27" 120 hz LCD monitors, and the accessory is 24" Acer LCD 3D 120 hz monitor with latest drivers (Sept. 19). One problem might be the use of hdmi cable which limits the signal to 60 hz and even though the Acer monitor is not being included in 3D setup, I have a feeling it is triggering a switch of surround display settings to 60 from 120. I say this because I have found that even after I disconnect the accessory and try to rerun wizard, sometimes it won't work because the surrounds are set at 60hz even though I did not change it. I hae no idea if this is even possible but otherwise I cannot understand why the same equipment and setup will run perfect 3D surround until I connect accessory. I am trying to get an active DVI to display port converter to see if I can keep accessory at 120. The accessory monitor only has DVI, HDMI, and vga connectors. I would love some suggestions.
Accessory monitor knocks out 3D surround; running 3D wizard with accessory connected generates warning message (WARNING: you are trying to run stereo 3D on a non stereo mode...wording is bit off but if you have seen it you know which one I mean) and the wizard cannot be completed. Disabling the accessory monitor allows 3D wizard completion and 3D surround runs perfectly (3 ways work: unplug the 4th monitor, turn off the monitor, uncheck the accessory monitor in the Nvidia control panel so it is not recognized). If I don't enable 3D, all four monitors work fine, including 2D surround + accessory.

FYI: I am running 2 X SLI GTX 780 6 gb with 3 Asus 27" 120 hz LCD monitors, and the accessory is 24" Acer LCD 3D 120 hz monitor with latest drivers (Sept. 19). One problem might be the use of hdmi cable which limits the signal to 60 hz and even though the Acer monitor is not being included in 3D setup, I have a feeling it is triggering a switch of surround display settings to 60 from 120. I say this because I have found that even after I disconnect the accessory and try to rerun wizard, sometimes it won't work because the surrounds are set at 60hz even though I did not change it. I hae no idea if this is even possible but otherwise I cannot understand why the same equipment and setup will run perfect 3D surround until I connect accessory. I am trying to get an active DVI to display port converter to see if I can keep accessory at 120. The accessory monitor only has DVI, HDMI, and vga connectors. I would love some suggestions.

#33
Posted 09/22/2014 01:49 AM   
Not that I'm expecting nvidia to bother to reply to this but... I picked up a 3rd GTX 670 card to run tri-SLI. Since someone has previously mentioned that having 3 GPU's seems to have been a solution to their 4th monitor problem, I figured I'd give it a shot. I've tried the following setups: 3x DVI Dual Links for my 3 3D monitors, 1 HDMI link for my spare monitor. I tried having the HDMI hooked up to 2 different GPU's (switched the primary monitor to the 2nd GPU as well) but could not get it to work. If I set up 3D before I activate the 4th spare monitor, the 3D effect does not render properly after activating the 4th accessory monitor. If I don't setup 3D before activating the 4th accessory monitor, then the 3D monitors do not switch to 3D mode when instructed by the 3D setup program. I then tried 3x DVI dual links for the 3 3D monitors, and 1 DVI link for the spare monitor. I ran into the exact same problems as above, absolutely no improvement. I then updated my graphics drivers to the latest version, and repeated my tests using the DVI link for the spare monitor with some slight differences: If I set up 3D before activating my 4th accessory monitor, then the 3D test application will only display resolutions/frame rates that are compatible with my 4th monitor. It's almost like the program is planning to run on the accessory monitor rather than on my 3 primary monitors. If I wait to set up 3D after activating the 4th accessory monitor, the 3D setup wizard runs (although there is significant - 2000+ ms - input lag) and my monitors properly switch to 3D mode, but the images are reversed and it won't allow me to activate 3D. I'm stumped, and it seems to be back to the old dilemma of: run 3D surround but do not have an accessory display; or don't run 3D surround at all but have an accessory display. Neither is an appealing option when my GPU's alone cost over 1,200.
Not that I'm expecting nvidia to bother to reply to this but...

I picked up a 3rd GTX 670 card to run tri-SLI. Since someone has previously mentioned that having 3 GPU's seems to have been a solution to their 4th monitor problem, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I've tried the following setups:

3x DVI Dual Links for my 3 3D monitors, 1 HDMI link for my spare monitor. I tried having the HDMI hooked up to 2 different GPU's (switched the primary monitor to the 2nd GPU as well) but could not get it to work. If I set up 3D before I activate the 4th spare monitor, the 3D effect does not render properly after activating the 4th accessory monitor.

If I don't setup 3D before activating the 4th accessory monitor, then the 3D monitors do not switch to 3D mode when instructed by the 3D setup program.

I then tried 3x DVI dual links for the 3 3D monitors, and 1 DVI link for the spare monitor. I ran into the exact same problems as above, absolutely no improvement.

I then updated my graphics drivers to the latest version, and repeated my tests using the DVI link for the spare monitor with some slight differences:

If I set up 3D before activating my 4th accessory monitor, then the 3D test application will only display resolutions/frame rates that are compatible with my 4th monitor. It's almost like the program is planning to run on the accessory monitor rather than on my 3 primary monitors.

If I wait to set up 3D after activating the 4th accessory monitor, the 3D setup wizard runs (although there is significant - 2000+ ms - input lag) and my monitors properly switch to 3D mode, but the images are reversed and it won't allow me to activate 3D.

I'm stumped, and it seems to be back to the old dilemma of: run 3D surround but do not have an accessory display; or don't run 3D surround at all but have an accessory display.

Neither is an appealing option when my GPU's alone cost over 1,200.

#34
Posted 09/23/2014 11:43 PM   
As an aside, if I activate 3D mode on my monitors for any reason while the 4th accessory display is activated, as soon as 3D mode ends all the text on my 3 primary monitors becomes blurry. The only solution seems to be deactivating the 4th accessory display. I even changed resolutions to my bezel corrected resolution (which did sharpen the text) but upon switching back the text was blurry again.
As an aside, if I activate 3D mode on my monitors for any reason while the 4th accessory display is activated, as soon as 3D mode ends all the text on my 3 primary monitors becomes blurry. The only solution seems to be deactivating the 4th accessory display.

I even changed resolutions to my bezel corrected resolution (which did sharpen the text) but upon switching back the text was blurry again.

#35
Posted 09/24/2014 12:24 AM   
The issue with fuzzy text seems to be related to applications going into full screen, rather than anything to do with 3D. Apparently, I cannot use a 4th accessory monitor even with 3D vision turned off. It appears my options are: - 3D vision surround with no accessory monitors. - 1 monitor gaming with multiple accessory monitors.
The issue with fuzzy text seems to be related to applications going into full screen, rather than anything to do with 3D. Apparently, I cannot use a 4th accessory monitor even with 3D vision turned off.

It appears my options are:

- 3D vision surround with no accessory monitors.
- 1 monitor gaming with multiple accessory monitors.

#36
Posted 09/24/2014 03:25 AM   
AS A FOLLOW UP TO MY THOUGHT that using hdmi for 4th monitor accessory to 3D surround might be the cause of forced choice between 3D or having accessory because the hdmi 60hz signal limit confused nvidia wizard in some way: I got active dvi to display adapter and used that to connect to master card in sli instead of hdmi, which did result in 120 hz signal for accessory but did nothing to solve the problem. I then tried adaptor on one of surround monitors and put all surround on master card, and then tried accessory as hdmi on master, and then hdmi on slave card alone in hdmi and even dvi, with no impact on original problem. It was still a choice between having 3D surround or 4th monitor accessory.
AS A FOLLOW UP TO MY THOUGHT that using hdmi for 4th monitor accessory to 3D surround might be the cause of forced choice between 3D or having accessory because the hdmi 60hz signal limit confused nvidia wizard in some way: I got active dvi to display adapter and used that to connect to master card in sli instead of hdmi, which did result in 120 hz signal for accessory but did nothing to solve the problem. I then tried adaptor on one of surround monitors and put all surround on master card, and then tried accessory as hdmi on master, and then hdmi on slave card alone in hdmi and even dvi, with no impact on original problem. It was still a choice between having 3D surround or 4th monitor accessory.

#37
Posted 09/25/2014 12:08 PM   
  3 / 3    
Scroll To Top