Error connecting Surround NVIDIA displays. Setup NVIDIA video card for games

As you know, game mSI laptops The GT line is one of the most powerful and functional models available on the market, but do not all know that the devices of the GT73, GT75 and GT83 series support multimonitorial configurations of 3 + 1 format with a resolution of 4K. Not every laptop offers such an opportunity. Moreover, these models allow you to play, displaying the image immediately into several monitors in the panoramic Surround mode!

Setting up multimonitorial configuration

Configure the connection of three external monitors to a laptop using Windows built-in tools or the Intel HD Graphics control panel is not difficult. The illustration below shows an example with three 4K format monitors and 60 Hz update frequency. First you need to find out if there are three video outputs at a laptop, such as HDMI, Mini-DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 3. In most cases, you will need adapters from Mini-DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 3 to the HDMI connector to connect all HDMI cable monitors. Then the extended desktop mode is activated. There is only one minus: in this case, only three external monitor will work, and your own laptop screen will turn off.

Activate panoramic Surround mode in the NVIDIA control panel

In the NVIDIA control panel you can also create a multimonitorial configuration. To do this, go to the "Setting up SLI, Surround, PhysX technologies". If three external monitors are connected correctly, it will be possible to combine them into one virtual monitor. In this case, the built-in laptop display will not be disconnected.

In this case, the panoramic picture has a resolution of 5760x1080, and the GT75VR Titan / SLI model is quite capable of cope with it. In Surround mode, you can even connect three 4K format monitors, but I think the resolution of 11520x2160 will be too heavy in games even for such a powerful laptop.

Enjoy the game with panoramic views! By the way, in this mode, you can remove the mass of interesting screenshots. As for the speed of the game, it constituted about 45-55 frames per second at high (high) image quality settings.

Introduction

I am writing about new technologies for more than twelve years. When I just started, then the sample delivered by the postal service sound card was a sufficient reason to deal with them for a week. Remember RAGE FURY MAXX? I could not fall asleep two days after he got a sample.

Time is coming, and the newest and best technologies seem more ordinary. It is not bad - technology still likes me. But they no longer cause such delight as before.

Taking into account the whole thing that was said when I took the three 120-Hz display of Acer GD235Hz out of the box, it was literally shocked. And the feelings only intensified when the representative of NVIDIA delivered a new Digital Storm stylish car based on the overclocked Core i7-960 processor, two GeForce GTX 480 video cards and the SilverStone Raven RV02 housing. And the purpose of this assembly was to demonstrate 3D Vision Surround. The expectations were very large.

Honestly, the last time such feelings I felt three months ago when AMD demonstrated to us connecting six monitors to a pair of video cards Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition . Although I was very interested to play in the resolution of 5760x2160 with a smooth frequency of frames, it was somewhat unpleasant to see a thick and terrible frame in the center of your favorite games. These monitors were then settled in the corner of our Tom's Hardware laboratory, and we were looking forward to the appearance of Samsung displays with a fine frame, which were shown almost a year ago.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Three displays, we seem to be the most optimal way to play on several monitors. And if you are concerned about the too wide screen space of three monitors 1920x1080, you can always turn them into portrait mode, which will give 3240x1920. But as part of this review, we decided to adhere to the resolution of 5760x1080 ...

Or smaller. Why not reduce the resolution below the "native" level of each monitor? Nevertheless, we have a technology that is capable of increasing the number of pixels so intensively that even the GeForce GTX 480s pair in SLI will not always cope. In any case, meet the 3D Vision Surround - a function that NVIDIA has declared together with the output of the GF100 video cards, but the appearance of which was somewhat delayed. According to representatives of the company, support has not been ready. And today it is just the right time for the announcement.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Good way to spend money

Eyefinity 6 - AMD technology for which a lot of money will have to spend. A pair of video cards for $ 500 and six monitors will require a solid budget.

The same can be said about the NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround - the technology will cost Nedlyozy. Acer GD235Hz displays are among the cheapest 24 "120 Hz monitors, and at the same time you have to give $ 400 for each. To support technology, you can use not the most expensive video cards like GeForce GTX 260, but if you want to receive decent performance, then Without a Pair of GeForce GTX 480 for $ 500, it is not necessary. In addition, you need to purchase a 3D Vision kit, which is sold for $ 199 (and additional points will cost another $ 149).

If you are reading this article, you can assume that you are ready to spend $ 2500 on video cards, monitors and glasses, and you already have a computer that can cope with such a configuration. Either you are interested in this technology, taking into account the purchase of the next Iron configuration.

3D Vision Surround in details

The principle of "Surround" for NVIDIA is relatively new. In the past, the SLI technology was limited to one display, that is, you could install in PC up to four GPUs, but all this power was used to display the picture only on one monitor.

Then AMD released its Radeon HD 5800 line, which was very much to move the NVIDIA position. For Eyefinity's working applications allowed to expand the desktop space for three monitors with one video card. For fans of 3D games on a wide screen, Eyefinity technology has been answering for years of waiting. Even the reference video card Radeon HD 5870 allowed to play comfortably on three monitors - and the situation improved significantly after AMD supported CrossFire in EyeFinity mode.

The GPU NVIDIA GF100 uses two displays conveyor, so the video card itself is limited to two outputs. You can use configurations of three monitors when installing two SLI video cards, as they give four outputs.

Of course, you can set three conventional 60-Hz LCD monitor, similar to Dell U2410, which will give you 2D-mode Surround. Or you can use 120-Hz monitors compatible with 3D Vision, which will give you the support of 3D Vision Surround - the following evolutionary step of 3D Vision technology, which we for the first time tested more than a year ago .

Rendering of two cards for three displays

NVIDIA supports Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) frame alternation mode, in which video cards can display a picture to one display or three.

Surround (2D) with two GPUs. Click on the picture to enlarge.

In Surround 2D mode, the internal distribution of the work does not change: GPU 1 is responsible for rendering odd personnel, and GPU 2 for rendering readers. The difference, of course, is that one frame on three LCD monitors is much larger - 5760x1080 pixels, for example, instead of 1920x1080. NVIDIA reluctantly divides details about the operation of the engine, which displays a picture on displays connected to two video cards, but, again, the PCI Express bus and SLI bridge are used to communicate.

3D Vision Surround mode. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Of course, the inclusion of stereoscopic output literally doubles the load, since each frame must be calculated and removed twice (for each eye). In this case, the first GPU displays odd frames for the left and right eye, and the second GPU - even shots for the left and right eye. If you believe Nvidia, then each GPU is always completely loaded.

The 3D Vision Surround technology also ignores your V-Sync settings, displaying the game with a frequency of 120 Hz, so that each eye has received 60 frames per second. As a result, the highest frame rate that you get in 3D mode is 60 FPS. The AFR technology has NVIDIA adds some computing load, so you will see in our tests, the frame rate is not higher than the 52 FPS level. But you can play quite comfortable.

System Assembly: 3D Vision Surround and Surround 2D

Displays

To build a 3D Vision Surround configuration, your components must satisfy certain requirements, the first of which are compatible displays. Since there are only eight table displays in the NVIDIA list (five 1920x1080 and three models of 1680x1050), it is likely that you do not have a suitable model, not to mention three displays.

Desktop Displays 1920x1080:

• Acer GD245HQ.
• Acer GD235Hz.
• ALIENWARE OPTX AW2310.
• ASUS VG236.
• LG W2363D.

Desktop Displays 1680x1050:

• Samsung Syncmaster 2233rz.
• ViewSonic Fuhzion VX2265WM.
• ViewSonic Fuhzion VX2268WM.

Projectors:

• Acer x1130p.
• Acer x1261
• Acer H5360.
• Lightspeed Design Depthq HD 3D Projector
• ViewSonic PJD6220-3d.
• ViewSonic PJD6210-3D.
• ViewSonic PJD5351
• ViewSonic PJD5111
• ViewSonic PJD6381
• ViewSonic PJD6211
• ViewSonic PJD6221
• ViewSonic PJD6241.
• ViewSonic PJD5112.
• ViewSonic PJD6251
• ViewSonic PJD6531W.

In addition to LCD monitors that support the NVIDIA patented technology, you can use the 120-Hz 3D Vision projectors (and they can be used even in portrait mode, as opposed to systems with polarization). The list above is two times more projectors than monitors, and 1 models released ViewSonic. If you have a fairly large room, and you do not want to endure the displays, then the configuration based on projectors is quite justified.

DLP-TVs that are supported when starting the original 3D Vision technology are synchronized from the display side, so they cannot be used in configurations with multiple monitors. However, it does not cause problems. Indeed, who needs three DLP TVs located next to each other?

GPU and physical connections

In the first driver, in which 3D Vision Surround technology appeared, NVIDIA supports the GEFORCE GTX 400 (480, 470 and 465) line and a ruler 200 (295, 285, 280, 275 and 260). But in the configuration and the connections used, it is not easy to understand, so be careful when the video cards are connected to displays.

The configuration of the 2-way SLI is the most simple (and, fortunately, the most common). You can use two any video cards from Linek 400 or 200 to enable Surround or 3D Vision Surround. In Surround mode, you can use three any analog or digital connections. In the 3D Vision Surround mode, you will have to use three dual-channel DVI outputs - HDMI is not supported.

		Surround (2D)		3D Vision Surround
GPU	SLI mode	Support	GPU connector	Support	GPU connector
GeForce GTX 480, 470, 465 GeForce GTX 285, 280, 275, 260	2-way SLI	Yes		Yes	3D projectors: all connectors
GeForce GTX 480, 470, 465	3rd SLI	Yes	Any three digital or analog connectors	Yes	3D monitors: 3 x Dual-Link DVI 3D projectors: all connectors
	Multi-Gpu.	Yes	Any three digital or analog connectors	Yes	3D projectors: all connectors
GeForce GTX 295 (2 x DVI, 1 x HDMI)	Quad-SLI	Yes	Any three digital or analog connectors	Yes	3D monitors: 3 x Dual-Link DVI 3D projectors: all connectors
GeForce GTX 295 (2 x DVI)	Multi-Gpu.	Not		Not
GeForce GTX 295 (2 x DVI)	Quad-SLI	Yes	Any three digital or analog connectors	Yes	3D monitors: 3 x Dual-Link DVI 3D projectors: all connectors

If you want to build a 3-way configuration (and who would not want to?), Then you will have to use the 400 line cards. GeForce GTX 200 video cards in this version of the driver are not supported. Requirements for connecting monitors similar. You can use any three digital / analog connectors for the Surround mode, as well as three DVI dual-channel outputs for 3D Vision Surround.

GeForce GTX 295 - the case is special. There are two versions of the video card - one with two DVI outputs and one HDMI, and the second is only two DVI outputs.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

If your version is equipped with DVI / HDMI outputs, you can use one 295 or a pair in Quad-SLI mode for Surround mode (2D). As for one card, you can even get the 3D Vision Surround mode, but only on projectors (LCD monitors are not supported). If the video cards are installed two, then you can use three DVI outputs in two cards for 3D Vision Surround mode on 120-Hz monitors.

Version gTX video card 295 with two DVI ports, as you can expect, does not support Surround or 3D Vision Surround modes. She simply does not have enough outputs. If you set two video cards in Quad-SLI mode, you will get the opportunity to play Surround or 3D Vision Surround.

As for motherboards, you will need a SLI-compatible platform.

2D support

You will have to pay a solid amount for the 120-Hz Displays in addition to the 3D Vision set for $ 200 (plus $ 149 for additional sets with glasses), so 3D Vision Surround is the pleasure of expensive. If you like to play several monitors, but this is enough 2D mode without glasses, then the NVIDIA Surround function just allows you to do.

In Surround 2D mode, the requirement of 120 Hz is removed. You can use three any monitor, right up to three 30 "LCD displays 2560x1600. This function is not as flexible as eyefinity - you will need two video cards with four outputs. But if you build a system for playing in high widescreen resolution, it is still necessary SLI or CrossFire configuration.

Surround mode supports more diverse output formats. If three monitors are required for 3D Vision Surround, the Surround 2D allows you to use the top three monitors in the landscape or portrait orientation, or in general connect four monitors - the fourth will connect to the last available DVI port, while it will be separated from the main group of displays.

We have already collected configurations on several monitors, and it should be noted that the rack is very important for a neat installation. Three 24 "monitor occupy a lot of space, if you place them next to each other on the table, and if there are not enough space, one monitor will be filled from the end of the desktop. NVIDIA has sent us an ERGOTECH rack for three LCD monitors that we could Set up in 15 minutes.

If you have enough money to spend on displays, video cards and glasses, you should not forget about the rack, which will avoid the jet of monitors on the desktop.

3D Vision Surround in work

Our review, of course, is subjective, since my feelings may not coincide with yours. Yes, we will present objective performance data with which you will soon get acquainted. But 3D Vision Surround should still be assessed by the sensations that you get from the new technology.

Fortunately, last year we already spent a lot of time for 3D Vision support games . And today, the situation with compatibility is much better - significantly more games are already supported by 3D Vision. But still there are games, even new, which in stereoscopic 3D are not so good.

I liked most games in which you had to play 3D. You will lose part of the light in wireless glasses with active shutters (as you can see below), and it is very noticeable in dark games, such as S.L.L.K.E.R. And Left 4 Dead. Games with brightly illuminated scenes look beautiful. For example, we really liked Far Cry 2 and Just Cause 2.

When points are turned on, it is easy to see how much light is lost due to the technology of shutters. Click on the picture to enlarge.

The points themselves are quite comfortable so that they can be worn for a long time - our opinion has not change since last year. Of course, the children of younger school age with a small head will not be so comfortable. But the teenagers who played our 3D Vision Surround system have never complained.

It should be noted that Acer displays cannot be called the best option, in our opinion. Clarity in 2D was not very good, and to obtain an ideal 3D picture, you need to look at the displays at a certain angle, and not even in the middle. Your view should be directed to the top frame. As it seems to us, other displays will give a much clearer picture. 23 "ALIENWARE OPTX AW2310, for example, we liked much more, and they cost only $ 50 more expensive Acer monitors.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 looks simply phenomenal. This game refers to the category of 3D Vision Ready, which has spread perfectly to the Surround mode. To measure performance, we used the initial screensaver of the Second World War. In 3D first that you will notice will surely be waves fighting about the boat. In Surround mode, you get a wide viewing field on both sides of the boat. The good news is that you can enjoy the game with all the included effects, so that we have the best combination of DirectX 11 and 3D Vision Surround.

DIRT 2.

DIRT 2 is another popular game that has been present for some time in our test package. In fact, DIRT 2 does not work with 3D Vision. Therefore, we did not test the tests of this game, but still launched it to see why Nvidia does not recommend run it in 3D. Spectacular, honestly, terrible. The company's observations that shadows are not displayed properly, and the lighting is scattered as they fell completely substantiated. In addition, problems are affected by dust and smoke, the depth of which is completely chaotic. And somewhere after three minutes to look at the game becomes just unbearable. So NVIDIA statements can really believe - the game does not work in stereoscopic 3D.

Far Cry 2.

Far Cry 2 was released before the announcement of the 3D Vision. But at the same time she received the category "Excellent" from NVIDIA. However, some compromises will have to go. Setting the option "POST FX" to "Low" means shutdown DirectX 10 and rollback to DirectX 9. Studying shaders' effects in "Medium" and turning off the "Bloom" option no longer affect quality. When you play a stereoscopic 3D (the sensation from the visual component of the game is completely different), then you do not pay attention to it. The game is so bright and colorful that you will quickly forget that part of the light is lost through gate glasses - and you will enjoy new sensations from 3D Vision Surround.

Crysis

You can call us conservatives, but we continue to test Crysis among other games. Unfortunately, the utility that we use to measure performance does not support widescreen permissions, therefore, the framework tests had to be abandoned. The game also goes fine, although NVIDIA points to the CRYSIS category "Good", leading several compromises to which you have to go, as well as several unreasoned artifacts that will surely make you play Crysis in Surround 2D mode, and not in stereoscopic 3D Vision Surround .

Despite the fact that the COD game is relatively new, she also received a rating "Good". Moreover, you will have to use the Widescreen Fixer utility to start the game. Otherwise, the review field will be stretched and distorted (we are honest, it applies to AMD Eyefinity technology). The only change in the game itself Call of Duty touches the Depth Field option to turn off - everything else looks sharp.

We have another game 3D Vision Ready, while the sensation in Just Cause 2 can be called in one word: amazing. I demonstrated this game to guests who wanted to know what is this in 3D Vision Surround. She is bright enough so as not to notice the loss of light in glasses with shutters, and guests even sometimes were reflexively fought so that their heads did not hurt her palm. "It's not bad to get such a gift for the new year," said one of my friends. "How many?" - he asked. I called the price. "Dreaming is not harmful."

Aliens VS. Predator

NVIDIA seems to have problems with games that the company could not affect the stage of their development. Aliens VS. Predator can no longer be called a novelty, but the game is declared as unsupported in latest version Drivers, it is really impossible to play. And the problems here, as we think, are that the game was developed in conjunction with AMD. We were able to get productivity results in a demo video - and playback really looked in 3D Vision Surround mode wonderful. But it was worth starting to play the game itself, as a hand with a weapon was completely wrong, we could not play.

3D Vision Surround tests

In our article we give fewer tests than in other GPU reviews. And it is connected with 3D Vision Surround compatibility issues. Usually we spend the tests of 3D Mark Vantage, Crysis, Aliens VS. Predator and Dirt 2. But since they were displayed completely incorrectly, these games in 3D would never start. There is a small consolation that you can at least play in Surround 2D.

To show what 3D Vision Surround technology is capable (and to show how quiet Pair GeForce GTX 480 can work in SLI - we were just confirmed in additional tests GeForce GTX 480), NVIDIA sent us a wonderful computer collected by Digital Storm. The Core i7-960 processor was overclocked to 3.8 GHz, which gave us a wonderful potential to reveal the graphic performance of video cards. The Raven RV02-based housing (Digital Storm made a small modding) is well suited for high-end graphic configuration, as it throws hot air up.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Remember that the results of the tests of the Eyefinity 6, which we led in the article do not belong to the array of six displays. We used a pair of Radeon HD 5870 2GB video cards to connect the same three displays as in the NVIDIA Surround configuration (2D), so that the comparison is quite adequate.

Hardware configuration

Hardware configuration
CPU	Intel Core i7-960 (Bloomfield) 3.20 GHz, 4.8 GT / S, L3 8 MB cache, energy saving functions are active. TURBO BOOST function active
Motherboard	EVGA X58 FTW3 (LGA 1366) X58 / ICH10
Memory	6 GB TECH NPS DDR3-1600 (3 x 2 GB) @ DDR3-1600
HDD	Corsair CMFSSD-128GBG1D 128 GB SATA 3 Gb / s SSD Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5 TB SATA 3 Gb / s HDD
Video card	2 x EVGA GeForce GTX 480 1.5GB 2 x Radeon HD 5870 2GB EyeFinity 6
Power Supply	TECH NPS 1000W POWER SUPPLY
System software and drivers
OS.	Microsoft Windows. 7 Ultimate X64.
DirectX	DirectX 11.
Driver platform	Intel Inf Chipset Update Utility 9.1.1.1019
Graphic driver	NVIDIA GeForce 258.69 AMD Catalyst 10.6.

Tests and settings

3D games
	3D: All Settings Maxed Out. 2D: All Settings Maxed Out. DESERT SUNRISE BENCHMARK, 4800X900 / 5760X1080
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2	3D: All Settings Maxed Out, Depth Of Field: Off, AA: Disabled. 2D: All Settings Maxed Out, Depth Of Field: Enabled, 4xaa. Second Sun, 45 Second Sequence, Fraps, 4800x900 / 5760x1080
DIRT 2.	3D: not compatible. 2D: High Settings. Steam Version, Custom Benchmark Script, DX11 Rendering, 4800x900 / 5760x1080
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat	3D: Static Lighting, Extreme Settings. 2D: DirectX 11 Lighting, Extreme Settings, SSAO: DEFAULT. , Benchmark Tool, 4800x900 / 5760x1080
Battlefield: Bad Company 2	3D: All Settings Maxed Out. 2D: All Settings Maxed Out. Opening Cinematic, 145 Second Sequence, Fraps, 4800x900 / 5760x1080
Far Cry 2.	3D: DirectX 9, Bloom Disabled, POST FX: Low, Shadows: Medium. 2D: DirectX 10, Ultra High Quality Settings. Benchmark Tool, Ranch Medium, 4800x900 / 5760x1080

Test results

It is quite logical to assume that the 3D Vision Surround technology doubles the load compared to the Surround (2D) mode. This is quite felt by Far Cry 2, where we observe the correlation almost 2: 1 in two configurations in 4800x900 and 5760x1080 - both permissions are quite comfortable in stereoscopic 3D mode. The only drawback is that you will have to use DirectX 9 mode to satisfy the NVIDIA recommended settings.

Of course, AMD Eyefinity technology is unable to display the game in stereoscopic 3D, so it makes sense to compare the 2-GB of EyeFinity 6 video cards in CrossFire mode with a 2D NVIDIA mode with the same settings. Video cards work slightly slower in NVIDIA Surround mode - quite expected result, given the excellent GTX 480 performance.

Usually S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Seriously loads the graphics subsystem, the game is able to "put on the knees" the most powerful GPU. But if you enable static lighting, go from the direction of DirectX 11 to 10.1, then the load on the GPU is significantly reduced. Also, remember that we will never get more than 60 frames per second in 3D Vision Surround mode. Since Surround (2D) mode is more than three times faster, it can be assumed that the stereoscopic 3D mode gives an additional load - we have not reached the productivity threshold 60 FPS. In any case, playing in the resolution of 5760x1080, we can call the game comfortable and attractive, despite the disconnection of some graphic "chips".

Here we again observe the performance that does not reach the upper limit of the 3D Vision Surround technology. But this is not so important - it is quite possible to play in the resolution of 5760x1080. We conducted game tests without smoothing, but graphic performance is sufficient to enable smoothing 2xaa (in fact NVIDIA does not recommend including the mode is stronger than 2xaa).

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is more demanding than Call of Duty, so NVIDIA recommends running it in the resolution of 4800x900 instead of 5760x1080. Given the performance results, it is difficult to argue with it. In any case, the game is certified as 3D Vision Ready, so you can enjoy it without any compromise on visual quality.

Two EyeFinity 6 video cards operating with the top of the monitors lag behind the GTX 480 pair in SLI with the same maximum settings that we expected.

Like Battlefield, the game Just Cause 2 is certified as 3D Vision Ready, that is, you can play without compromise. We have another demanding game of the DirectX 11 class, that is, most likely you will have to reduce the "native" resolution 5760x1080 to 4800x900 so that the frame rate is at an acceptable level. But the exhibition of smaller resolution really makes sense - instead of disconnecting some functions, the Just Cause game goes with all active graphic functions - as in 2D mode - but you will get all the advantages of stereoscopic 3D. If in the future all the games will look in stereoscopic 3D as Just Cause 2, then we will definitely issue NVIDIA award "Editor's Choice" award.

Of course, the NVIDIA 2D Surround profile is not as interesting as the 3D Vision Surround, but it is good alternative if the games are incorrect in the stereoscopic mode. In s.t.a.l.k.e.r., for example, we will not have to use static lighting. We can switch to a full-fledged Lighting Model of the DirectX 11 level and enable SSAO to maximize the picture quality in 2D mode. And, of course, we cannot include similar mode with video cards AMD Radeon. HD 5870 2GB EyeFinity 6 Edition.

The performance turned out to be pretty close, but the GEFORCE video cards in SLI won the 4800x900 and 5760x1080 permissions.

In the 3D Vision Surround NVIDIA mode, it recommends running Far Cry 2 with settings that reduce the quality of the picture compared to the maximum options (and they look just wonderful in such a game). Running the game in 2D mode allowed us to return part of the settings (we activated Bloom, Post FX was set to High, and could also use the DirectX 10 code path).

Here, again, the SLI configuration bypassed AMD video cards in CROSSFIRE mode. However, both systems provided impressive performance.

We could not correctly run DIRT2 in stereoscopic 3D, so the Surround mode was the only one in which this game is on three monitors using the GeForce GTX 480 pair. The performance turned out to be quite decent compared to the AMD Radeon HD 5870 2GB pair in CrossFire with maximum settings .

To run Call of Duty in a stereoscopic 3D, you need to make some changes. In 2D mode, we were able to leave the active Depth Field option, as well as include 4xAA. As a result, we got a very close performance of NVIDIA and AMD video cards. However, Nvidia came forward again.

Conclusion

Let's start with what 3D Vision Surround showed itself from the best side. In games related to the class "3D Vision Ready", the sensations were really amazing - approximately the same if you go with the 2D VGA video card on the 3D graphics accelerator. If new technology There was no such a serious price barrier for its introduction, many readers would probably have been recorded in the queue near computer stores. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Just Cause 2, in our opinion, are the best examples of what 3D Vision Surround technology is capable. They simply capture the spirit. However, it is very difficult to describe the transition from pseudo-3D on a two-dimensional screen on a stereoscopic 3D. It is just necessary to try yourself. So try to find a rich gamer with a similar configuration and ask him to try.

Of course, the previous paragraph may seem like the creativity of an impressionable schoolboy. And, frankly, the disadvantages of the technology is - the most disadvantaged of them is the fact that not all games are so well optimized for stereoscopic 3D, like Battlefield and Just Cause. In fact, in the 3D Vision Ready category at the time of publication on the NVIDIA website, six ready-made games were given (the rest or are in the state of the demo version, or have not yet come out). In other games, there are various problems that have yet to solve. In particular, we had to turn off some options for improving graphic quality. Or, for example, had to endure visual artifacts that could not be eliminated.

In s.t.a.l.k.e.r. It is necessary to significantly reduce the quality of lighting so that the 3D Vision technology worked as it should be. Click on the picture to enlarge.

In addition, 3D Vision Surround is a very expensive offer. You will have to buy three monitors, several pairs of points, a pair of GeForce GTX 480 video cards, as well as the rack, if you do everything right. That is, you will have to spend more than $ 2500, and we didn't even consider the rest of the computer (which, too, by the way, should be powerful). So the price is one of the main slow motion factors. However, do not forget that we have nevertheless an image technology NVIDIA, very similar to AMD Eyefinity 6 Edition video cards.

If you are not limited to the means, then 3D Vision Surround will show yourself in some games. In others, you can use the Surround (2D) mode. As we have already seen in the case of AMD Eyefinity, this technology can also be called very interesting. It's a shame that AMD has nothing to offer in terms of stereoscopic 3D. We promised to submit results at the time of the output of the 3D Vision for one monitor, but since then we have not received anything so much.

In the end, the conclusion that we did in january 2009 About 3D Vision will be true in this case.

GEFORCE 3D VISION glasses reminded us 64-bit calculations, multi-core CPUs and hardware support for transformation and lighting (T & L). This is a product that is built on technology potentially able to change a lot - in this case, games. However, one should not forget about the disadvantages. The "ticket price" on this attraction is quite high, you will have to turn off some quality improvement settings, and the graphic subsystem must be quite powerful.

We will not forget about such a nvidia trump card, as the program "The Way IT" S Meant to Be Played (TwimTBP). "TWIMTBP program gives a manufacturer of graphic processors. A sufficient impact on game developers so that their new products are not only fully compatible with GeForce 3D Vision, but also contained additional features - such as the appearance of objects outside the plane of the 120-Hz screen. GeForce 3D Vision glasses cannot be really successful without broad support from the game developers, and on this NVIDIA today actively works. Well, while this moment I have not come yet, so we will wait for the prices of new monitors and glasses slightly. The technology is wonderful - but in the era of the crisis there is still to spend $ 600.

Let Nvidia still have a significant impact on developers in order to significantly increase the list of games "3D Vision Ready". Such games will promote 3D Vision Surround technology in the mass. If you manage to try a properly optimized game for stereoscopic 3D, then you are unlikely to want to go back to 2D.

Hello everybody! Today is a very interesting article about thin set Video cards for high performance in computer games. Agree to friends that after installing the video card driver, you once discovered the "NVIDIA control panel" and seeing unfamiliar words there: DSR, shaders, cuda, sync pulse, SSAA, FXAA, and so on, decided not to climb there. But nevertheless, it is possible to understand all this and even need, because productivity directly depends on these settings. There is an erroneous opinion that everything in this surround panel is configured correctly by default, unfortunately these are far from the experiments show proper setting Recommended by weighty magnificationframe frequency.So get ready, we will deal with streaming optimization, anisotropic filtering and triple buffering. As a result, you will not regret and you will be waiting for the reward in the formincrease FPS in games.

Setup NVIDIA video card for games

The rate of development of gaming production is gaining more and more turns every day, however, as the course of the main monetary unit in Russia, and therefore the relevance of optimizing the operation of iron, the software and the operating system has increased dramatically. Hold your steel stallion in a tone at the expense of constant financial injections is not always possible, so we will talk to you today and talk about improving the speed of the video card due to its detailed settings. In my articles, I repeatedly wrote about the importance of installing a video device, so I think you can skip. I'm sure you know everything perfectly, how to do it, and all of you have long been installed.

So, in order to get into the video driver control menu, click right-click Mice at any place on the desktop and select the NVIDIA Control Panel in the opened menu.

After that, in the window that opens, go to the "Manage 3D Parameters" tab.

Here we are with you and will customize various parameters affecting the display of 3D pictures in games. It is not difficult to understand that to obtain maximum performance, the video card will have to strongly cut the image in terms of quality, so be ready for it.

So, the first item " CUDA - Graphic Processors" Here is a list of video processors, one of which you can choose, and it will be used by CUDA applications. CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) is a parallel computing architecture used by all modern graphics processors to increase computational performance.

The next item " DSR - smoothness"We skip, because it is part of the configuration of the" DSR - degree "item, and in turn you need to turn off and now I will explain why.

DSR (Dynamic Super Resolution) - Technology allows you to count on the picture in higher resolution games, and then scaling the result resulting before the resolution of your monitor. In order for you to understand why this technology was generally invented and why it does not need us for maximum performance, I will try to give an example. Surely you often noticed in games that small details, such as grass and foliage, very often flicker or ripples when driving. This is due to the fact that, the less permission, the smaller the number of samp points to display small parts. DSR technology allows it to be corrected by increasing the number of points (the more resolution, the more Number Points of sample). I hope so it will be clear. In terms of maximum performance, this technology is not interesting to us as it spends quite a lot. system resources. Well, with a disconnected DSR technology, the smoothness setting, which I wrote is slightly higher, it becomes impossible. In general, we turn off and go further.

Next goes anisotropic filtration. Anisotropic filtering is an algorithm of computer graphics created to improve the quality of textures under the tilt relative to the camera. That is, when using this technology, texture in games are becoming clearer. If you compare anti-standard filtering with your predecessors, namely with bilinear and trilinear filtrations, then anisotropic is the most voracious in terms of consumption of the video card. This item is only one setting - select the filtering coefficient. It is not difficult to guess that this function must be disconnected.

Next point - vertical sync pulse. This is the synchronization of the image with the frequency of the monitor sweep. If you enable this parameter, you can achieve the most smooth gameplay (the image breaks are cleaned with sharp corners of the camera), however, often appear frames below the monitor sweep frequency. To obtain the maximum number of frames per second, this option is better to disable.

Prepared frames of virtual reality. The function for virtual reality glasses is not interesting to us, since VR is still far from the everyday use of ordinary gamers. We leave the default - use the 3D setting of the application.

Shading background lighting. Makes the scenes more realistic due to mitigating the intensity of the surrounding surfaces of the surfaces that are shaded by a number of objects. The function does not work in all games and very demanding to resources. Therefore, demolish it to the digital mother.

Shader caching. When this function is turned on, the central processor saves the shaders compiled for the graphics processor. If this shader is needed again, then the GPU will take it directly from the disk, not forcing the CPU to re-compile this shader. It is not difficult to guess that if you turn off this parameter, then performance will fall.

Maximum number of pre-trained personnel. The number of frames that can prepare the CPU in front of their processing processor. The higher the value, the better.

Multicading Smoothing (MFAA). One of the smoothing technologies used to eliminate the "gear" on the edges of the images. Any smoothing technology (SSAA, FXAA) is very demanding to a graphical processor (the question is only in degree of voraciousness). Turn off.

Streaming optimization. Thanks to the inclusion of this feature, the application can immediately use several CPUs. In the event that the old application works incorrectly try to put the "Auto" mode or disable this function at all.

Power control mode. Perhaps two options are adaptive mode and maximum performance mode. During the adaptive mode, power consumption depends directly on the degree of loading GP. This mode is mostly needed to reduce power consumption. During the maximum performance mode, it is not difficult to guess, the maximum possible level of productivity and energy consumption is maintained regardless of the degree of loading of the GP. We put the second.

Smoothing - FXAA, smoothing - gamma correction, smoothing - parameters, smoothing - transparency, smoothing - mode. I already wrote about smoothing a little higher. Turn off everything.

Triple buffering. A variety of double buffering; An image output method that avoids or reduce the number of artifacts (image distortion). If we talk simple words, then increases productivity. BUT! This thing works only in a pair with vertical synchronization, which, as you remember, we have turned off before. Therefore, this parameter is also disconnected, it is useless for us.

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System Setup

Before you enjoy the games on Surround systems, you need to correctly execute one very important point - setting up the system. After connecting the "iron" component, you should enable and configure the system from the NVIDIA Control Panel. Below is shown how it is done.

In the latest releases of NVIDIA drivers, several new sections in their control panel added. Now there is a general section Configuration in the 3D Settings block that includes most of the options for setting up graphics. The 3D Vision settings are made in a separate block that you can see before block video.

Configure your SLI system will allow the menu, in the upper left corner of the window in the image above. In the same unit of settings, you can select a device for PhysX computing in the upper right corner. Your actions are displayed on the icon at the bottom of the window so that you can visually understand the selection you did. After done necessary settings, Press the Configure button.

On the first window, we see a diagram on which it is shown which ports must be connected on your video cards. Connection is accompanied by a dialog box (right), where you can choose a landscape or portrait mode. Also in this window you can drag 1, 2 and 3 of the numbers in order to change the location of the monitor and the output associated with it. This step will be important when selecting the medium monitor system for the output of the central image.

The last setting makes it possible to configure a picture so that in the games there is no displacement on the boundaries of the monitors.

The adjustment of the faces allows you to compensate for the thickness of the frames of your monitors so that the image is continuous. The photo above shows what happens when the edges adjustment are not included between the two monitors. It is noticeable that the road canvate does not converge. After the NVIDIA drivers will display the image of the road between two monitors, you can use the window to change the number of pixel addresses "Behind" faces until two images of the road are lined up into a single line. After that, the installer allows you to install a new facet with a corrected resolution, which is equal to the number of added horizontal pixels plus the resolution of the three monitors. So, for example, if you have three monitors of 1920 x 1200 and 100 pixels of correction between each of them, the new resolution created will be 5960 x 1200 (1920 x 3 + 100 + 100).

Unfortunately, there is no indicator that would show the exact resolution on the screen created by the installation program. But there is another partition that displays these new settings, you will see it in the photo below. We also met another problem. Returning to the Bezel Correction menu for additional accurate settings, we saw the wrong information displayed on the screen, even despite the fact that the system was set properly. As a result, I had to restart the installation process first. We hope that the reason for this in the beta version of the drivers used, which will be corrected.

To see what permission was set, you must call the Change Resolution dialog box and be neat so as not to confuse the set resolution. Why? Violation of permission will then let yourself know in games.
The duration of this section is to create a false impression on the complexity of the NVIDIA installation, but it is not. We must pay tribute to the company that the process is convenient for the user and includes several simple steps. The errors with whom we encountered are mainly related to the "dampness" drivers. The entire configuration process is shown in the video below.

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Introduction
In the age of Full HD and fashionable 3D ... Association of a pair of monitors for someone becomes simply not crazy, the reasons are different, both ordinary, connected for example with the acquaintance of human activity and fantastic, tie six monitors to one general permission for a pleasant time Transferred in the virtual world. NVIDIA and AMD are promoting this technology to the masses, such terms - Surround and Eyefinity appear. I want to spend not a big excursion, namely, what it is - a multimonitorial system, how it works on different operating systems and how to deal with SLI mode.

Technical features of monitor connection modes in windows Environment Xp.
You could combine two monitors through one video card before, during the Windows XP Board. If you take a specific example, then when using cards from NVIDIA, you needed to put the appropriate video drivers with the support of the NView function and have two monitors in stock, while not specifically stipulates the availability of screens with similar technical parameters.
Settings are quite simple, not requiring special attention for what is happening. We will have four options for the mode of operation of monitors.

Many, as I am interested in modes: Dual View and Span, actually for what it is done.
Span - Displays are combined into one virtual screen, the desktop is expanding on both monitors, that is, the technical permissions are folded. As a result, for two 19 inch monitors in the amount we get 2560x1024 points.


There is a dual impression, it seems to play becomes more pleasant, but it's more comfortable, unfortunately no displays share the silhouette or a weapon sight, this refers to games from the 1st and 3rd face.


And so without a doubt, such an option will appeal to lovers of strategies and various sporting simulators.


At the same time, the question arises if we have SLI tandem, we will be able to launch the SPAN mode to give power to such a high resolution. I will answer, by means of NVIDIA drivers in Windows XP it is not possible to do this, the harness will be inactive.

Dual View. - own multidolest mode. Each monitor has its own permission.

To make the existing SLI on two monitors allows only Dual View, since we play on one screen with our own resolution, that is, the presence of the second monitor and the desire to play high permissions will be explicitly failed and the second video card is not needed.

Technical features of monitor connection modes in Windows 7 medium
Although not the opportunity we all we get, this requires to go to Microsoft Windows Vista \\ 7 32-bit or 64-bit, have a graphical processor NVIDIA GeForce. 8th series or higher.
Multoice SLI mode


Allowing you to use two monitors on one gEFORCE video card In SLI mode. But there is one thing, you need games with support for multi-screen technology, such as World in Conflict, Supreme Commander Forged Alliance and Flight Simulator X, again fooling the younger brother, the actual get the top five games, and that is mostly tactical RPG and strategies. Actually, the second monitor perform the role of a huge map of the battle places \\ locations. There is no doubt a great chip for lovers online battles in the above-listed games, but nothing more.
Dual View. - Repeats the mode that has been available to us in Windows XP.

NVIDIA Surround mode (2D)
So I approached the most interesting, launch of three displays with some total resolution. Such a case is possible only on Microsoft Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit and the availability of two or more video cards starting from the GTX 2xx series.
Building a system is quite simple, you need to have at least two adapters from the recommended list, also motherboard With the support of SLI technology (but I will notice here, it is not so important, you can put the modified NVIDIA drivers, the so-called SLI Patch)

One of the main problems is considered to be the selection of monitors, they must be with the same resolution, update frequency and synchronization polarity.

Test stand, assembly feature



* Motherboard : MSI 790x-G45 (BIOS VERSION 2.5)

* CPU : AMD Phenom II x2 555 (unlocked to Phenom II x4 B55)

* Video card : NVIDIA GTS450 MSI SLI 1GB

* RAM : Corsair CM2X1024-6400C4

* SSD. : Corsair Force F60

* HDD. : WD 320GB.

* Power Supply : FSP EVEREST 600W 85PLUS
Acceleration
The clock frequency of the processor 3600 MHz, the frequency of the system bus 225 MHz (225x17.5), the frequency of the memory controller 2025 MHz (225x9), the frequency DDR2 - 900 MHz (225x4.00), the supply voltage 1.42. In, supply voltage DDR2 - 1.8 V.



Video cards function at frequencies: 920 \\ 1840 \\ 4100.
As three displays, there are two ACER V193 and LG 1953S two monitors.


In idle assembly, connect monitors to DVI connectors on video cards and go to configure NVIDIA software.


After starting the system, you need to go to the NVIDIA control panel, where one more menu should open.


Next, the system checks the compatibility of the connected monitors, if everything is in order, it will be proposed to configure displays.
Setup gives you to select orientation and identify windows.


Also present the so-called correction framework, allowing you to adjust each width value independently.


After moment settings, I got this picture, with a resolution of 3840x1024 points.


Now I would like to test games with NVIDIA SLI support.

Test applications
FPS measurements were carried out mSI program AfterBurner 2.1.0, only average values \u200b\u200bwere displayed on the charts.

* Crysis - DX10; Installations - HIGH, AAX-OFF;

* GTA 4. - DX9; Installations - Normal, AAX-OFF;

* LOST PLANET. - DX10; Installations - HIGH, AA8X;

* Mafia 2. - DX9; Installations - HIGH, AA4X;

* Metro 2033. - DX9; Installations - Normal, AA4X;

Test Results, Gaming Features


I will say honestly, it was not familiar at first to see such a big picture and all the more to play, but it gives pleasure.


Especially on the example of games from the 3rd face, two side monitor add an angle and an angle of review,


you seem to be in the game, the effect of the invidence is provided.


If we talk about the FPS, then the GTS450 is not very poorly well, I don't care for the quality of the graphics, but I consider it a bad opportunity to build a system of 3x1.


As can be seen, the average FPS 30-40 K \\ s. On medium \\ high settings, it is bad or deserved to solve not to me, but again it is only SLI mode, with solitary here much worse.

Alternative options
Go to the side of the "red", the implementation of the term AMD Eyefinity looks more modest, not requiring two video cards. It is only worth buying video accelerators of the series - HD54XXX \\ HD64XX and higher. Of course, in Eyefinity technology, there are their pitfalls (associated with adapters and connections connections), but still the construction of the 3x1 system requires much smaller cost, but there is no longer about it.
Matrox Triplehead 2Go - allows you to combine three monitors through a single analog interface. Definitely, first of all, it is a huge plus, now it does not matter which video card we will draw our sympathies, the use of SLI \\ CrossFire modes will be adding unnecessary FPS without problems.
But, of course, without minus anyone. The use of analog interfaces can cause image distortions, especially when the signal is divided into three monitors.
The maximum resolution supported by the device 3840x1024, when three monitors have a resolution of 1280x1024.

Conclusion

I tried to stay on the more used types of connecting two or more monitors, show visual effects In the form of visual photos and explain the problem associated with the use of SLI tandem. I hope you liked this excursion.

Behind the scenes
NVIDIA GTS450 MSI SLI