GTX 970 SLI: 2 Screens give 3D Vision, 3 screens always give anaglyph only
1 / 2
Hi All,
Long time fan of the green camp and never had a significant issue with any cards until recently (except for the one time I tried to drill a threaded screw on a 6800U but the drill was set to hammer).
I used to have 3xGTX 680s running 2xVG278HEs and 1xVG278H in 3D Surround, landscape mode with no problems whatsover. They were connected up with 1xDVI-D DL connector on each card
After one of my 680s gave up the ghost, I replaced them with 2x MSI 4G 970s. 3x 2D Surround runs perfectly, however I run into a strange problem with 3x 3D Surround which I've not managed to get to the bottom of:
I can activate 3D Vision 2 Surround on the VG278H (with the integrated emitter) and any "one" of the other monitors. However, if I try to run 3x3D Surround then it will only ever work in anaglyph mode. It doesn't matter which MB slots, DVI ports, card order I use, the result is always the same.
The only common factor I've found (which I never had to consider with my previous 3x680s) is that 3D Vision 2.0 fails for whichever card has two monitors connected. That is to say, when I use just one monitor connected to each card (i.e. just use 2 screens rather than 3), every thing is great and 3D Vision works normally across two screens. The moment I connect a 3rd monitor (or even just use Surround with two screens connected to one of the cards), it drops into anaglyph mode.
I can't for the life of me figure out what is going wrong. All the monitors have worked in 3D when just paired to the one with the emitter, all the cables work in 3D, both cards exhibit the exact same behaviour, I get no installation or system errors and I've tried every driver from 344.16 up to 347.88, running driver sweeper and doing clean installs each time. I've also tried putting the whole system back to stock so no OC but it makes no difference.
My setup is an old i2600k 4.8GHz with 16Gb RAM on a Gigabyte Z68-UD7-B3 MB, Win 7 x64 all patched up to the current date.
Unless these MSI's are somehow 'nerfed' internally so you can't use 2x DL-DVI-D at the same time, otherwise I've no idea what could be causing this.
Long time fan of the green camp and never had a significant issue with any cards until recently (except for the one time I tried to drill a threaded screw on a 6800U but the drill was set to hammer).
I used to have 3xGTX 680s running 2xVG278HEs and 1xVG278H in 3D Surround, landscape mode with no problems whatsover. They were connected up with 1xDVI-D DL connector on each card
After one of my 680s gave up the ghost, I replaced them with 2x MSI 4G 970s. 3x 2D Surround runs perfectly, however I run into a strange problem with 3x 3D Surround which I've not managed to get to the bottom of:
I can activate 3D Vision 2 Surround on the VG278H (with the integrated emitter) and any "one" of the other monitors. However, if I try to run 3x3D Surround then it will only ever work in anaglyph mode. It doesn't matter which MB slots, DVI ports, card order I use, the result is always the same.
The only common factor I've found (which I never had to consider with my previous 3x680s) is that 3D Vision 2.0 fails for whichever card has two monitors connected. That is to say, when I use just one monitor connected to each card (i.e. just use 2 screens rather than 3), every thing is great and 3D Vision works normally across two screens. The moment I connect a 3rd monitor (or even just use Surround with two screens connected to one of the cards), it drops into anaglyph mode.
I can't for the life of me figure out what is going wrong. All the monitors have worked in 3D when just paired to the one with the emitter, all the cables work in 3D, both cards exhibit the exact same behaviour, I get no installation or system errors and I've tried every driver from 344.16 up to 347.88, running driver sweeper and doing clean installs each time. I've also tried putting the whole system back to stock so no OC but it makes no difference.
My setup is an old i2600k 4.8GHz with 16Gb RAM on a Gigabyte Z68-UD7-B3 MB, Win 7 x64 all patched up to the current date.
Unless these MSI's are somehow 'nerfed' internally so you can't use 2x DL-DVI-D at the same time, otherwise I've no idea what could be causing this.
Yes, I can happily drive 3x 2D Surround at 120Hz or run all three screens in 'multiple display mode' at 120Hz.
I wonder if there's something specific in '3D Application Settings' which I also need to set, although I never needed to play with it for my old 680s to run 3x 3D Surround. They certainly never dropped into anaglyph.
Yes, I can happily drive 3x 2D Surround at 120Hz or run all three screens in 'multiple display mode' at 120Hz.
I wonder if there's something specific in '3D Application Settings' which I also need to set, although I never needed to play with it for my old 680s to run 3x 3D Surround. They certainly never dropped into anaglyph.
3D Vision surround typically requires that all 3 displays be identical.
So it seems odd that it worked previously, since the Display ID is typically different for each model.
You might ry this, download Monitor Asset Manager from Entech Taiwan (it's free).
Find the registry entry for the monitor with the internal emitter and save it as an .inf file.
Use that inf file to overwrite the EDIDs for the other two monitors.
Note that EDID overrides only apply to the currently used connection for that particular monitor. So if you reattach it to a different output, it will need to be redone..
3D Vision surround typically requires that all 3 displays be identical.
So it seems odd that it worked previously, since the Display ID is typically different for each model.
You might ry this, download Monitor Asset Manager from Entech Taiwan (it's free).
Find the registry entry for the monitor with the internal emitter and save it as an .inf file.
Use that inf file to overwrite the EDIDs for the other two monitors.
Note that EDID overrides only apply to the currently used connection for that particular monitor. So if you reattach it to a different output, it will need to be redone..
I will give that a go thanks. BTW is there any particular NV driver I should work with while doing this? For other testing I've tried all of them for the 970s up to 347.88. Right now I'm using 344.48 but not for any particular reason.
I will give that a go thanks. BTW is there any particular NV driver I should work with while doing this? For other testing I've tried all of them for the 970s up to 347.88. Right now I'm using 344.48 but not for any particular reason.
I do not have surround, so I couldn't recommend a driver.
My VG278HE simply shows up as "Ancor communications" in the Nvidia control panel and PnP in device manager. So the only way to check is with MonInfo(MAM).
If you are using W7.
Right click you desktop and select "screen resolution"
Select "advanced settings"
select "monitor" , then select properties (now that your in the monitor tab)
select "driver" and then "update driver"
choose "Browse my computer for driver software"
choose " Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
select "Have DisK"
Browse to the location of the .inf file that you would like to install
once you have selected it, click "OK"
Now select the appropriate entry in the box that is for the new inf
select "next", you might get a pop up that says...
"windows can't verify the publisher of this driver software
just select "install this driver software anyway"
A restart or hot plug may be required when done.
W8
http://3dvision-blog.com/8483-how-to-install-edid-override-inf-monitor-drivers-in-windows-8/
I do not have surround, so I couldn't recommend a driver.
My VG278HE simply shows up as "Ancor communications" in the Nvidia control panel and PnP in device manager. So the only way to check is with MonInfo(MAM).
If you are using W7.
Right click you desktop and select "screen resolution"
Select "advanced settings"
select "monitor" , then select properties (now that your in the monitor tab)
select "driver" and then "update driver"
choose "Browse my computer for driver software"
choose " Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
select "Have DisK"
Browse to the location of the .inf file that you would like to install
once you have selected it, click "OK"
Now select the appropriate entry in the box that is for the new inf
select "next", you might get a pop up that says...
"windows can't verify the publisher of this driver software
just select "install this driver software anyway"
A restart or hot plug may be required when done.
I didn't even get a chance to test this EDID tweak. I think the motherboard might be nerfed as it stopped seeing one of the GPUs entirely and the other reports 'device unable to start' in Device Manager, after cleaning out the drivers. Put the two 680s back in and also getting the same error. Tried re-installing the 347.88 drivers a couple of times and then back to the 344.48 and keep getting 'driver installation failed'.
I'm wondering if having run my i7-2600k at 4.8GHz, 1.45V for 3 years is catching with me lol
Just ordered an i5-4690K with a Gigabyte Z97-UD5-BK. Will see if things start to play nice with that and try the EDID solution.
I didn't even get a chance to test this EDID tweak. I think the motherboard might be nerfed as it stopped seeing one of the GPUs entirely and the other reports 'device unable to start' in Device Manager, after cleaning out the drivers. Put the two 680s back in and also getting the same error. Tried re-installing the 347.88 drivers a couple of times and then back to the 344.48 and keep getting 'driver installation failed'.
I'm wondering if having run my i7-2600k at 4.8GHz, 1.45V for 3 years is catching with me lol
Just ordered an i5-4690K with a Gigabyte Z97-UD5-BK. Will see if things start to play nice with that and try the EDID solution.
Ok, update on testing. I've installed a GB Z97X-UD5-BK, i5-4690K, put my two new MSI 970s back in and guess what... exact same problem. The VG278 and left hand VG278HE show 3D Surround and the right hand 'HE' stays in 2D. (The right hand HE is also brand new but still showing the same issue as the last one)
Will try the EDID hack next although it seems strange as my VG278 and two VG278HEs have always worked well together before in 3D Surround for the games I play. Unless the VG278 itself is now knackered so that it only works with one HE or that NV drivers aren't as 3D Surround friendly as they were before i.e. don't work with even 'almost' identical monitors that used to play happily together. (I'm starting to suspect this is 'NOW' the case with NV drivers as 3D always starts normally as soon as I enable the VG278 by itself
If it doesn't work then I'll order a USB 3D Vision kit since I now have 3x VG278HEs anyway (assuming therefore that the monitor I thought broken, is in fact actually fine).
Will post the results of EDID tinkering tomorrow night.
Ok, update on testing. I've installed a GB Z97X-UD5-BK, i5-4690K, put my two new MSI 970s back in and guess what... exact same problem. The VG278 and left hand VG278HE show 3D Surround and the right hand 'HE' stays in 2D. (The right hand HE is also brand new but still showing the same issue as the last one)
Will try the EDID hack next although it seems strange as my VG278 and two VG278HEs have always worked well together before in 3D Surround for the games I play. Unless the VG278 itself is now knackered so that it only works with one HE or that NV drivers aren't as 3D Surround friendly as they were before i.e. don't work with even 'almost' identical monitors that used to play happily together. (I'm starting to suspect this is 'NOW' the case with NV drivers as 3D always starts normally as soon as I enable the VG278 by itself
If it doesn't work then I'll order a USB 3D Vision kit since I now have 3x VG278HEs anyway (assuming therefore that the monitor I thought broken, is in fact actually fine).
Will post the results of EDID tinkering tomorrow night.
Ok, I've used the EDID tool in W7 and changed the 278HEs to the same .inf file as the 278. Rebooted and confirmed in the monitor property hardware IDs for both monitors that the new .inf files were installed, however NVidia CP still sees them as VG278HE. Also, in Monitor Asset Manager, the [real-time] entries still identify the HEs as HEs, even though the [registry-entries] show they have changed.
Moreover, I'm afraid it's not made any difference. Still, one monitor comes up in 2D only. No idea what else to try.
Ok, I've used the EDID tool in W7 and changed the 278HEs to the same .inf file as the 278. Rebooted and confirmed in the monitor property hardware IDs for both monitors that the new .inf files were installed, however NVidia CP still sees them as VG278HE. Also, in Monitor Asset Manager, the [real-time] entries still identify the HEs as HEs, even though the [registry-entries] show they have changed.
Moreover, I'm afraid it's not made any difference. Still, one monitor comes up in 2D only. No idea what else to try.
Ok, Having changed the motherboard, processor and graphics cards (from 3x 680s to only 2x 970s), I can only think of one viable hypothesis (please feel free to shoot me down):
The reason I had no trouble with 3x 680s, running 1x VG278 + 2x VG278HE in 3D Vision Surround is that I had one monitor plugged into each separate GPU all the time. They never shared a card.
In my 2x SLI setup, I always have to have mismatched monitors on one card and it's always one of those that causes a problem. If I do 3D Surround using only one monitor on each card then it works (but it's only two screens running then)
So, since my new MB cannot run 3x GPUs, my only option would be to take out the VG278 and replace it with a 3rd VG278HE (which I just happen to still have) and buy an IR emitter.
To me, what lends credence to this is that, when testing 3x 3D Surround on 2x GPUS, it's always the 'right hand' monitor which gives problems. It doesn't matter which of the 'HE's is the right hand monitor, it's a 'problem' position for the 3D Surround setup. It was exactly the same when running just 2x 680s with the old i7 and Z68 board.
Very strange conclusion for me but I've had this problem for more than two months now and NOTHING!!! has fixed it. The only thing left I've not tested is 3x 970s with one monitor on each but I'm not buying a 3rd motherboard....
What do people think?
Ok, Having changed the motherboard, processor and graphics cards (from 3x 680s to only 2x 970s), I can only think of one viable hypothesis (please feel free to shoot me down):
The reason I had no trouble with 3x 680s, running 1x VG278 + 2x VG278HE in 3D Vision Surround is that I had one monitor plugged into each separate GPU all the time. They never shared a card.
In my 2x SLI setup, I always have to have mismatched monitors on one card and it's always one of those that causes a problem. If I do 3D Surround using only one monitor on each card then it works (but it's only two screens running then)
So, since my new MB cannot run 3x GPUs, my only option would be to take out the VG278 and replace it with a 3rd VG278HE (which I just happen to still have) and buy an IR emitter.
To me, what lends credence to this is that, when testing 3x 3D Surround on 2x GPUS, it's always the 'right hand' monitor which gives problems. It doesn't matter which of the 'HE's is the right hand monitor, it's a 'problem' position for the 3D Surround setup. It was exactly the same when running just 2x 680s with the old i7 and Z68 board.
Very strange conclusion for me but I've had this problem for more than two months now and NOTHING!!! has fixed it. The only thing left I've not tested is 3x 970s with one monitor on each but I'm not buying a 3rd motherboard....
Yep, have to agree. I've read previously that only exactly matching monitors were supported, so your conclusion may be why. If you have 3 cards, it's maybe a configuration that works, but is not directly supported.
I don't think any of us have a good understanding of the limits of the EDID overrides. This might be one.
Yep, have to agree. I've read previously that only exactly matching monitors were supported, so your conclusion may be why. If you have 3 cards, it's maybe a configuration that works, but is not directly supported.
I don't think any of us have a good understanding of the limits of the EDID overrides. This might be one.
Acer H5360 (1280x720@120Hz) - ASUS VG248QE with GSync mod - 3D Vision 1&2 - Driver 372.54
GTX 970 - i5-4670K@4.2GHz - 12GB RAM - Win7x64+evilKB2670838 - 4 Disk X25 RAID
SAGER NP9870-S - GTX 980 - i7-6700K - Win10 Pro 1607 Latest 3Dmigoto Release Bo3b's School for ShaderHackers
The plot thickens....
Just tried 3x VG278HEs with the 3D Vision 2 kit which I bought today. Individually, all three monitors support Active Shutter just fine. Activate 3x 3D Surround and guess what? Same problem. Left and centre monitors in full stereoscopic 3D, right hand monitor 2D only. Swap the left and right monitors like before - anaglyph only. Make the right hand monitor the centre screen (recall these screens are identical, they all run full stereoscopic mode individually and this is a clean Win7 x64 build with the same drivers, 347.88) and this time I get a BCCODE 116.
Just for kicks, I put the monitor order back to the starting position and swapped out the right hand position for the VG278 but still using the USB IR, not the monitor IR). Same issue. Stereoscopic only on the left and centre monitor.
For further kicks, I binned the entire build and installed W8.1 Pro. Same result
I'm actually starting to wonder if one/both of my 970s is, by unbelievably bad luck, duff! A BCCODE 116 and, while both GPUs report no errors, run SLI in test etc, I had noticed when I installed Win8.1 but before I put the NV drivers in, one of the 'Standard VGA Adapters' reported as unable to start due to missing driver (although I can't recall if that part is normal)
I'm actually tempted to RMA the cards and say that they just refuse to play nice together in 3D Surround. I have also noticed that, even though I bought these cards as a pair, they're not identical. The heatsink shroud is a different design between the two cards. Minor difference but what else is there that I cannot see.
This is by far one of the most infuriating problems I've ever had....
Just tried 3x VG278HEs with the 3D Vision 2 kit which I bought today. Individually, all three monitors support Active Shutter just fine. Activate 3x 3D Surround and guess what? Same problem. Left and centre monitors in full stereoscopic 3D, right hand monitor 2D only. Swap the left and right monitors like before - anaglyph only. Make the right hand monitor the centre screen (recall these screens are identical, they all run full stereoscopic mode individually and this is a clean Win7 x64 build with the same drivers, 347.88) and this time I get a BCCODE 116.
Just for kicks, I put the monitor order back to the starting position and swapped out the right hand position for the VG278 but still using the USB IR, not the monitor IR). Same issue. Stereoscopic only on the left and centre monitor.
For further kicks, I binned the entire build and installed W8.1 Pro. Same result
I'm actually starting to wonder if one/both of my 970s is, by unbelievably bad luck, duff! A BCCODE 116 and, while both GPUs report no errors, run SLI in test etc, I had noticed when I installed Win8.1 but before I put the NV drivers in, one of the 'Standard VGA Adapters' reported as unable to start due to missing driver (although I can't recall if that part is normal)
I'm actually tempted to RMA the cards and say that they just refuse to play nice together in 3D Surround. I have also noticed that, even though I bought these cards as a pair, they're not identical. The heatsink shroud is a different design between the two cards. Minor difference but what else is there that I cannot see.
This is by far one of the most infuriating problems I've ever had....
Long time fan of the green camp and never had a significant issue with any cards until recently (except for the one time I tried to drill a threaded screw on a 6800U but the drill was set to hammer).
I used to have 3xGTX 680s running 2xVG278HEs and 1xVG278H in 3D Surround, landscape mode with no problems whatsover. They were connected up with 1xDVI-D DL connector on each card
After one of my 680s gave up the ghost, I replaced them with 2x MSI 4G 970s. 3x 2D Surround runs perfectly, however I run into a strange problem with 3x 3D Surround which I've not managed to get to the bottom of:
I can activate 3D Vision 2 Surround on the VG278H (with the integrated emitter) and any "one" of the other monitors. However, if I try to run 3x3D Surround then it will only ever work in anaglyph mode. It doesn't matter which MB slots, DVI ports, card order I use, the result is always the same.
The only common factor I've found (which I never had to consider with my previous 3x680s) is that 3D Vision 2.0 fails for whichever card has two monitors connected. That is to say, when I use just one monitor connected to each card (i.e. just use 2 screens rather than 3), every thing is great and 3D Vision works normally across two screens. The moment I connect a 3rd monitor (or even just use Surround with two screens connected to one of the cards), it drops into anaglyph mode.
I can't for the life of me figure out what is going wrong. All the monitors have worked in 3D when just paired to the one with the emitter, all the cables work in 3D, both cards exhibit the exact same behaviour, I get no installation or system errors and I've tried every driver from 344.16 up to 347.88, running driver sweeper and doing clean installs each time. I've also tried putting the whole system back to stock so no OC but it makes no difference.
My setup is an old i2600k 4.8GHz with 16Gb RAM on a Gigabyte Z68-UD7-B3 MB, Win 7 x64 all patched up to the current date.
Unless these MSI's are somehow 'nerfed' internally so you can't use 2x DL-DVI-D at the same time, otherwise I've no idea what could be causing this.
I wonder if there's something specific in '3D Application Settings' which I also need to set, although I never needed to play with it for my old 680s to run 3x 3D Surround. They certainly never dropped into anaglyph.
So it seems odd that it worked previously, since the Display ID is typically different for each model.
You might ry this, download Monitor Asset Manager from Entech Taiwan (it's free).
Find the registry entry for the monitor with the internal emitter and save it as an .inf file.
Use that inf file to overwrite the EDIDs for the other two monitors.
Note that EDID overrides only apply to the currently used connection for that particular monitor. So if you reattach it to a different output, it will need to be redone..
My VG278HE simply shows up as "Ancor communications" in the Nvidia control panel and PnP in device manager. So the only way to check is with MonInfo(MAM).
If you are using W7.
Right click you desktop and select "screen resolution"
Select "advanced settings"
select "monitor" , then select properties (now that your in the monitor tab)
select "driver" and then "update driver"
choose "Browse my computer for driver software"
choose " Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"
select "Have DisK"
Browse to the location of the .inf file that you would like to install
once you have selected it, click "OK"
Now select the appropriate entry in the box that is for the new inf
select "next", you might get a pop up that says...
"windows can't verify the publisher of this driver software
just select "install this driver software anyway"
A restart or hot plug may be required when done.
W8
http://3dvision-blog.com/8483-how-to-install-edid-override-inf-monitor-drivers-in-windows-8/
I'm wondering if having run my i7-2600k at 4.8GHz, 1.45V for 3 years is catching with me lol
Just ordered an i5-4690K with a Gigabyte Z97-UD5-BK. Will see if things start to play nice with that and try the EDID solution.
Will try the EDID hack next although it seems strange as my VG278 and two VG278HEs have always worked well together before in 3D Surround for the games I play. Unless the VG278 itself is now knackered so that it only works with one HE or that NV drivers aren't as 3D Surround friendly as they were before i.e. don't work with even 'almost' identical monitors that used to play happily together. (I'm starting to suspect this is 'NOW' the case with NV drivers as 3D always starts normally as soon as I enable the VG278 by itself
If it doesn't work then I'll order a USB 3D Vision kit since I now have 3x VG278HEs anyway (assuming therefore that the monitor I thought broken, is in fact actually fine).
Will post the results of EDID tinkering tomorrow night.
Moreover, I'm afraid it's not made any difference. Still, one monitor comes up in 2D only. No idea what else to try.
I used MonInfo(MAM), as suggested by D-Man11
The reason I had no trouble with 3x 680s, running 1x VG278 + 2x VG278HE in 3D Vision Surround is that I had one monitor plugged into each separate GPU all the time. They never shared a card.
In my 2x SLI setup, I always have to have mismatched monitors on one card and it's always one of those that causes a problem. If I do 3D Surround using only one monitor on each card then it works (but it's only two screens running then)
So, since my new MB cannot run 3x GPUs, my only option would be to take out the VG278 and replace it with a 3rd VG278HE (which I just happen to still have) and buy an IR emitter.
To me, what lends credence to this is that, when testing 3x 3D Surround on 2x GPUS, it's always the 'right hand' monitor which gives problems. It doesn't matter which of the 'HE's is the right hand monitor, it's a 'problem' position for the 3D Surround setup. It was exactly the same when running just 2x 680s with the old i7 and Z68 board.
Very strange conclusion for me but I've had this problem for more than two months now and NOTHING!!! has fixed it. The only thing left I've not tested is 3x 970s with one monitor on each but I'm not buying a 3rd motherboard....
What do people think?
I don't think any of us have a good understanding of the limits of the EDID overrides. This might be one.
Acer H5360 (1280x720@120Hz) - ASUS VG248QE with GSync mod - 3D Vision 1&2 - Driver 372.54
GTX 970 - i5-4670K@4.2GHz - 12GB RAM - Win7x64+evilKB2670838 - 4 Disk X25 RAID
SAGER NP9870-S - GTX 980 - i7-6700K - Win10 Pro 1607
Latest 3Dmigoto Release
Bo3b's School for ShaderHackers
Just tried 3x VG278HEs with the 3D Vision 2 kit which I bought today. Individually, all three monitors support Active Shutter just fine. Activate 3x 3D Surround and guess what? Same problem. Left and centre monitors in full stereoscopic 3D, right hand monitor 2D only. Swap the left and right monitors like before - anaglyph only. Make the right hand monitor the centre screen (recall these screens are identical, they all run full stereoscopic mode individually and this is a clean Win7 x64 build with the same drivers, 347.88) and this time I get a BCCODE 116.
Just for kicks, I put the monitor order back to the starting position and swapped out the right hand position for the VG278 but still using the USB IR, not the monitor IR). Same issue. Stereoscopic only on the left and centre monitor.
For further kicks, I binned the entire build and installed W8.1 Pro. Same result
I'm actually starting to wonder if one/both of my 970s is, by unbelievably bad luck, duff! A BCCODE 116 and, while both GPUs report no errors, run SLI in test etc, I had noticed when I installed Win8.1 but before I put the NV drivers in, one of the 'Standard VGA Adapters' reported as unable to start due to missing driver (although I can't recall if that part is normal)
I'm actually tempted to RMA the cards and say that they just refuse to play nice together in 3D Surround. I have also noticed that, even though I bought these cards as a pair, they're not identical. The heatsink shroud is a different design between the two cards. Minor difference but what else is there that I cannot see.
This is by far one of the most infuriating problems I've ever had....