3D Newb - Which OS
Good day Nvidia crew. I am in the market for a desktop replacement, leaning towards Clevo/Sager's 680m SLI rig with a 3D Nvision monitor/glasses - easily a 3.5K laptop. The machine will primarily be for gaming, followed by 3D Blu-ray watching. I know Nvidia's support of 3D has gone down, but Helix-Mod and/or DDD TriDef should help fill in the coverage. *** I would much prefer to use Windows 8 over Windows 7 as I really love the UI and the potential for DX11.1 native Stereoscopic support. What is the general feedback of 3D in 8 given that we all rely on Helix and/or DDD? *** Thank you all!
Good day Nvidia crew.
I am in the market for a desktop replacement, leaning towards Clevo/Sager's 680m SLI rig with a 3D Nvision monitor/glasses - easily a 3.5K laptop.

The machine will primarily be for gaming, followed by 3D Blu-ray watching.
I know Nvidia's support of 3D has gone down, but Helix-Mod and/or DDD TriDef should help fill in the coverage.
***
I would much prefer to use Windows 8 over Windows 7 as I really love the UI and the potential for DX11.1 native Stereoscopic support. What is the general feedback of 3D in 8 given that we all rely on Helix and/or DDD?
***
Thank you all!

#1
Posted 02/13/2013 03:25 PM   
Then get windows 8 if you prefer it! I don't really like the new OS, but its much faster/secure and has some better features (I just really hate metro) Nvidia 3D works 100% ok with it. The only problem that I have found, and ive been using it solidly, is some older games don't seem to want to go full screen in windows 8 (really old, and only a couple I have tried). This is nothing to do with NVidia though, its even when playing games 2D. There is a cure for this though, that I myself have posted links to help people on this site if you ever come across that problem. Helix mods work on windows 8 as well as 7. P.S. Ok, I always advise this, even to my friend who ignored me... to his peril. Do you really need a gaming laptop? I would always advise for a pc, and get a cheap laptop for portability. You can probably get both for the same price, or even less. Gaming laptops OVERHEAT, and always have problems in my experience. Mine died, and so did my friends (currently trying to get it fixed under warranty, hassle). Both were top spec machines, both from top companies (and both different).SLI GTX 680m sounds like a beast, and even in my tower is going to get hot ;-) That's my two cents anyway. If you need that gaming laptop, go ahead. P.S. if you've never built a pc before, trust, its easier then Lego for under 5's!
Then get windows 8 if you prefer it! I don't really like the new OS, but its much faster/secure and has some better features (I just really hate metro)

Nvidia 3D works 100% ok with it. The only problem that I have found, and ive been using it solidly, is some older games don't seem to want to go full screen in windows 8 (really old, and only a couple I have tried). This is nothing to do with NVidia though, its even when playing games 2D. There is a cure for this though, that I myself have posted links to help people on this site if you ever come across that problem.

Helix mods work on windows 8 as well as 7.

P.S. Ok, I always advise this, even to my friend who ignored me... to his peril. Do you really need a gaming laptop? I would always advise for a pc, and get a cheap laptop for portability. You can probably get both for the same price, or even less. Gaming laptops OVERHEAT, and always have problems in my experience. Mine died, and so did my friends (currently trying to get it fixed under warranty, hassle). Both were top spec machines, both from top companies (and both different).SLI GTX 680m sounds like a beast, and even in my tower is going to get hot ;-) That's my two cents anyway. If you need that gaming laptop, go ahead.

P.S. if you've never built a pc before, trust, its easier then Lego for under 5's!

OS: Win 8 CPU: I7 4770k 3.5GZ GPU: GTX 780ti

#2
Posted 02/13/2013 03:39 PM   
I highly recommend that you wait until later this year to see how 3D is going before making a big investment. There are absolutely NO new Nvidia 3D ready games on the horizon for 3D vision, and almost every new top-tier game is broken in 3D vision. Helix's mod only works on DirectX 9 games - nearly every game coming out from now on will be DirectX 11+. This is on top of the fact that nvidia's 3D vision drivers have been terrible for years. With the Oculus Rift coming out, and AMD's new game support now exceeding nvidia's, I think it would be a huge mistake to buy into nvidia's locked-in proprietary ecosystem. Especially since you can use TriDef on AMD cards.
I highly recommend that you wait until later this year to see how 3D is going before making a big investment. There are absolutely NO new Nvidia 3D ready games on the horizon for 3D vision, and almost every new top-tier game is broken in 3D vision. Helix's mod only works on DirectX 9 games - nearly every game coming out from now on will be DirectX 11+. This is on top of the fact that nvidia's 3D vision drivers have been terrible for years. With the Oculus Rift coming out, and AMD's new game support now exceeding nvidia's, I think it would be a huge mistake to buy into nvidia's locked-in proprietary ecosystem. Especially since you can use TriDef on AMD cards.

#3
Posted 02/13/2013 03:43 PM   
I thought gaming laptop was an oxymoron! ;) Dunno about AMD. I have never had an issue with the drivers though. Some games work, some don't. It's the way it has always been. This is the same for AMD. 3D Vision still seems to be exceeding AMD though despite the ney sayers. Look at the MTBS3D link in my sig. The most impartial advice can probably be found there. Oculus Rift is just too invasive for me. It's completely exciting!!! It's also massive. Looking forward to OR2 when it is way WAY smaller.
I thought gaming laptop was an oxymoron! ;)

Dunno about AMD.

I have never had an issue with the drivers though. Some games work, some don't. It's the way it has always been. This is the same for AMD. 3D Vision still seems to be exceeding AMD though despite the ney sayers. Look at the MTBS3D link in my sig. The most impartial advice can probably be found there.

Oculus Rift is just too invasive for me. It's completely exciting!!! It's also massive. Looking forward to OR2 when it is way WAY smaller.

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
-------------------
Vitals: Windows 7 64bit, i5 2500 @ 4.4ghz, SLI GTX670, 8GB, Viewsonic VX2268WM

Handy Driver Discussion
Helix Mod - community fixes
Bo3b's Shaderhacker School - How to fix 3D in games
3dsolutionsgaming.com - videos, reviews and 3D fixes

#4
Posted 02/13/2013 03:59 PM   
I thank you all for chiming in so quickly! I am especially excited to know that 3D vision & Helix Mod appear to work on 8x64! Normally I build my own machines. My current rig is a slightly aged, highly overclocked, watercooled i920, dual 285 GTX. Now that work has me traveling, it sits unused while I sit in hotel rooms for 8 hours a night reading books with all my ’gaming’ being delegated to an Android catalog/ancient console emulators. This has been going on for over 2 years and doesn’t look to slow down. So yes, I am willing to splurge on a non-OC gaming laptop now. Regarding heat – I plan on opening up the case and cleaning everything out monthly, opening up the air intakes & using wire grills, and reapplying TIM every 6 months or so. I do NOT plan to OC the rig (yet). I really dislike passive 3D (both polarized and red/blue). Stereoscopic 3D looks fantastic, is available now, thanks to Helix my back catalog is fairly well supported, DX11.1 has native support for future games that do not go open gl and 3D blurays. The Oculus Rift looks like an ideal solution… but would still require me to use a laptop. The difference in cost between the 3D panel + 2 Glasses on the machine is only a few hundred and I can always pick up a Rift in the future. Also, the OR will require driver support or community mods to work, just like 3D Vision, Helix Mod, DDD Tridef,& Amd’s Solution… this super exciting hmd may suffer the same setbacks that all the other paths to 3D have. In addition, v1 of the OR is a bit too big for my carry on. My back catalog of games includes Alice: madness returns, Portal 2, Skyrim, Bioshock (1(replay)&3), Max Payne 3, Batman(s), Dragon Age(s), Torchlight 2, Mirrors Edge, Newer Tomb Raiders, Fallout 3 Vegas, Resident Evil 5+, DMC, Doom 3 (replay). –All with download mods when available to make them look better. A lotta 3D gaming hours here.
I thank you all for chiming in so quickly! I am especially excited to know that 3D vision & Helix Mod appear to work on 8x64!

Normally I build my own machines. My current rig is a slightly aged, highly overclocked, watercooled i920, dual 285 GTX. Now that work has me traveling, it sits unused while I sit in hotel rooms for 8 hours a night reading books with all my ’gaming’ being delegated to an Android catalog/ancient console emulators. This has been going on for over 2 years and doesn’t look to slow down. So yes, I am willing to splurge on a non-OC gaming laptop now.

Regarding heat – I plan on opening up the case and cleaning everything out monthly, opening up the air intakes & using wire grills, and reapplying TIM every 6 months or so. I do NOT plan to OC the rig (yet).

I really dislike passive 3D (both polarized and red/blue).
Stereoscopic 3D looks fantastic, is available now, thanks to Helix my back catalog is fairly well supported, DX11.1 has native support for future games that do not go open gl and 3D blurays.

The Oculus Rift looks like an ideal solution… but would still require me to use a laptop. The difference in cost between the 3D panel + 2 Glasses on the machine is only a few hundred and I can always pick up a Rift in the future. Also, the OR will require driver support or community mods to work, just like 3D Vision, Helix Mod, DDD Tridef,& Amd’s Solution… this super exciting hmd may suffer the same setbacks that all the other paths to 3D have. In addition, v1 of the OR is a bit too big for my carry on.

My back catalog of games includes Alice: madness returns, Portal 2, Skyrim, Bioshock (1(replay)&3), Max Payne 3, Batman(s), Dragon Age(s), Torchlight 2, Mirrors Edge, Newer Tomb Raiders, Fallout 3 Vegas, Resident Evil 5+, DMC, Doom 3 (replay). –All with download mods when available to make them look better. A lotta 3D gaming hours here.

#5
Posted 02/13/2013 05:50 PM   
Even though I agree with supcaj's recommendation to some degree, if you've got the money, pull the trigger. To put it blunty, that back catalogue is worth it for 3D alone. Both Batmans are simply a joy in 3D, your going to have a lot of fun.. and portal 2... oh, that game was simply divine. wait until you meat glados, in 3D.. that is Pixar in a game! As for your laptop choice, sounds like the right choice for you, you sound like you know what your getting yourself in for, I was only trying to be helpful incase you wernt aware of potential problems ;-) Going back to supcaj's statement, there is a lot of truth in there but I have faith. The next gen consoles will almost certainly support 3D, a lot new engines are being built to work with 3D (big engines) and dx 11.1 is supposed to really help game designers get their 3D product out. I think the lack of 3D in the past year is the lull before the storm, with most companies looking to future games and new consoles rather then tweaking games already in production. Oculus Rift for now is a complete waste of time waiting for it. It looks great, I hope is the future as it looks incredibly immersive but it hasn't even got a date yet for commercial release, and it's likely not until next year. And as for AMD, I was reading some comparisons and Nvidia, for me, still appeared to come out best. I really would switch if I thought there were advantages. So, pull the trigger, have a load of fun with all the games that are already out in 3D, and report back when you do!
Even though I agree with supcaj's recommendation to some degree, if you've got the money, pull the trigger. To put it blunty, that back catalogue is worth it for 3D alone.

Both Batmans are simply a joy in 3D, your going to have a lot of fun.. and portal 2... oh, that game was simply divine. wait until you meat glados, in 3D.. that is Pixar in a game!

As for your laptop choice, sounds like the right choice for you, you sound like you know what your getting yourself in for, I was only trying to be helpful incase you wernt aware of potential problems ;-)

Going back to supcaj's statement, there is a lot of truth in there but I have faith. The next gen consoles will almost certainly support 3D, a lot new engines are being built to work with 3D (big engines) and dx 11.1 is supposed to really help game designers get their 3D product out.

I think the lack of 3D in the past year is the lull before the storm, with most companies looking to future games and new consoles rather then tweaking games already in production.

Oculus Rift for now is a complete waste of time waiting for it. It looks great, I hope is the future as it looks incredibly immersive but it hasn't even got a date yet for commercial release, and it's likely not until next year.

And as for AMD, I was reading some comparisons and Nvidia, for me, still appeared to come out best. I really would switch if I thought there were advantages.

So, pull the trigger, have a load of fun with all the games that are already out in 3D, and report back when you do!

OS: Win 8 CPU: I7 4770k 3.5GZ GPU: GTX 780ti

#6
Posted 02/13/2013 06:03 PM   
@foreverseeking (& co) - You've hit my thoughts square on. I'd pretty much decided on stereoscopic 3d for all the reasons you've mentioned. AMD has the corner on cost, but not on stereoscopic / back-catalog 3D gaming. I also believe that the lull in support will begin to ease as 11.1 titles come out (at which point one must have windows 8). Mr. Gabe has pushed for more linux gaming support (but the numbers are still VERY low). Everything else would just be a waiting game - one that I'm rather bored of. I really do not care about the cost - I care about the experience. Hopefully the rig doesn't burn up for 4 years or so - I'll keep a close eye on temps & temp maintenance. Other mods exist to help these machines (adding another internal fan & increasing the heatsink surface area, tin tape to seal the fan to radiator fin airgap, etc). Not much else can be done to prevent this. My main concern was that 3DVision / Helix Mod would not work properly on Windows 8 (and Steam as appropriate). - Obviously this isn't an issue now. ;) I'll jump back once I have shacked up for awhile. Sager NP370-3D, 2 glasses, 680m SLI (8GB), i7-3740QM, IC Diamond paste, Win 8 x64 Pro, 16 GB 1600 mHz, Dual 512 GB Crucial M4 (1 for OS, 1 for games), Intel Centrino 6235. Pure Joy at $4K
@foreverseeking (& co) - You've hit my thoughts square on.

I'd pretty much decided on stereoscopic 3d for all the reasons you've mentioned. AMD has the corner on cost, but not on stereoscopic / back-catalog 3D gaming.

I also believe that the lull in support will begin to ease as 11.1 titles come out (at which point one must have windows 8). Mr. Gabe has pushed for more linux gaming support (but the numbers are still VERY low).

Everything else would just be a waiting game - one that I'm rather bored of.

I really do not care about the cost - I care about the experience.

Hopefully the rig doesn't burn up for 4 years or so - I'll keep a close eye on temps & temp maintenance. Other mods exist to help these machines (adding another internal fan & increasing the heatsink surface area, tin tape to seal the fan to radiator fin airgap, etc). Not much else can be done to prevent this.

My main concern was that 3DVision / Helix Mod would not work properly on Windows 8 (and Steam as appropriate). - Obviously this isn't an issue now. ;)

I'll jump back once I have shacked up for awhile.


Sager NP370-3D, 2 glasses, 680m SLI (8GB), i7-3740QM, IC Diamond paste, Win 8 x64 Pro, 16 GB 1600 mHz, Dual 512 GB Crucial M4 (1 for OS, 1 for games), Intel Centrino 6235. Pure Joy at $4K

#7
Posted 02/13/2013 08:04 PM   
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