I just watched some video linked somewhere around here about the history of 3d gaming leading me to sign up and post.

Here is my current setup:
Three matched CRT's (capable of beyond HD, or 120hz, but not both at same time but thats okay)
Dual 260gtx cards I just bought hoping for the minimum entry level into 3D Surround Gaming
eDimensional wired 3d glasses with VGA dongle (bought a few years ago)

Needless to say I was hoping to use them all together. (I haven't put the cards in the machine yet/been busy) After watching the video it's sounding like I wont be able to. Apparently nvidia DUMPED all older stereo 3d support for previous setups back in 2007! :(

So i'm posting here hoping for clarifications and advice for "whats salvageable" since this seems to be the go to place for 3d. I also have an 8800gt card (currently in computer, running Windows 7) and was planning a future rig around a pair of 480gtx's. I don't have the money/didn't want to blow for 3 brand new LCD 120hz monitors, nor the overpriced glasses when I already have glasses that AFAIK should work just fine. My reason for preferring Nvidia was hearing it had better game support, and the ability to use Analog Dsub to hook up my beautiful CRT's which I have no desire to replace.


So can someone bring me up to speed on these multiple issues:

Can i use the eDimensional glasses for any of the above hardware in any setup? Maybe with the aftermarket iz3d or Tridef drivers and still running 3 monitors on the 260's/later 480's?

Can i use CRT's for 3d surround (with 'official' nvidia glasses) so glasses are my only upgrade?

Can I use analog CRT's or the edimensional glasses with any ATI 3d setup if I give up on nvidia for the future video card purchase, getting a 6-series or something?

Can i use my current 8800gt or 260gtx (single or SLI) with the edimensional glasses in single monitor 3d in any OS? (can go back to XP if I need to but there's mixed data on 8800gt support in XP.. beta drivers exist apparently)

Did the abandonment of the old stereo 3d driver abandon with it or alter older game support? My reason for buying 'lowly' 260gtx cards for 3d Surround is i'm actually quite content playing OLD games like Elder Scrolls 3 or Thief 3 which didn't tax shader power much. I just really want to play it in 3d with 3 monitors on the lowest budget possible and thought I already had all I need to do exactly that. In other words will I still need a "retro" 3d rig to play my older games, even if I got new Nvidia 3D approved monitors and approved glasses to use?


Sorry for all the sudden questions i'm just frustrated fearing what I thought would work wont work or will turn out to be a waste of money. :(

Here's the deal: The old Nvidia drivers only work with old video cards on XP. Even the 8800 is too new, you need a 7000 series card. That will allow you to at least use one monitor in 3D with the ED glasses. I do remember getting dual CRTs working in 3D, but I never tried 3 screens. Maybe with the Matrox TH2G or SoftTH. I think there was a user here that had a triple projector setup using the TH2G, so that should be possible somehow.

However any of those newer cards (8800 and up) will only work with the new Nvidia drivers on Vista or 7. I also hear the Nvidia dropped generic CRT support recently, so you can't even use the latest drivers anymore. Kind of a sucky situation, but what can you do? Going AMD does not really help much as iz3D and DDD never seemed to get shutter glasses support to work properly. Sorry I don't have the definitive answer, but I hope that helps.

When did they remove generic monitor support? If they have, my Z800 will no longer work.
Works fine on my drivers of a few months ago however...

Yes it helps..

Are you 100% sure about no 8800 support? I just mean win98 has apparently beta drivers to use 8800gt in pcie (general graphics drivers i mean) but is not commonly known to do that, but I was wondering if the stereo 3d drivers perhaps even those for win98 might run them... if anyone has the version # I can go check though. Or maybe someone has hacked drivers..

And yes CRT support is dropped past 285.62, thats the last setup to use it. It sounds like if I get the 3D Vision Kit I can use my CRT's and 260gtx's, but I STILL cannot play my old games that I literally bought the 260's hoping to play. :(

How can iz3D and DDD not use shutter glasses properly, or do you mean just wired or eDimensional ones, do you have any further information?? :P

DDD does support shutter glasses.
At least My Samsung S23A700D with shutterglasses work with the bundled DDD drivers.
But the glasses are driven by the monitor, the drivers just give a side-by-side image to the display.
The monitor itself does the conversion to framesequential.