Hello (need advice)

[tacos4life]

Hello, I'm going to start perusing these forums as soon as I get a chance, for now I just have a few minutes to write off a quick intro message.
My friend and I have both been upgrading out PC's over the last 2 months, I've been doing mine on a slightly higher budget, but he has had to go with a micro atx board and a gt 640, with an i3 processor. We're at the point in our builds where we are looking to get new 120hz monitors, and we are wondering if he should put the money out for a 3D monitor with his video card. He's planning on upgrading to a GTX at some point, however probably not for a few months. Most likely the 3D would be used for watching movies and maybe playing a couple games, however since we are competitive gamers, he would be playing most games in 2D @ 120hz.

My question is, is this card capable of performing decently for 3D movies?

[Fredz]

Even a GeForce GT 240 is enough for playing Blu-ray 3D movies, so I guess a GT 640 would be more than enough. See here for GeForce compatibility with Blu-ray 3D : http://www.nvidia.com/object/3d-vision- ... ments.html

But I'm not sure a 3D monitor is the best choice if you want to watch 3D movies, the depth is often quite poor on such small diagonal displays. A 3D TV with a big diagonal or a 3D projector would be a much better choice if your main usage is going to be watching 3D movies.

These are great for gaming also, although the lag on TVs can be a problem for competitive gamers.

[tacos4life]

Yea we thought about projectors, but basically because of not only the money available, but also the room we have available to us is limited. plus we compete in lan tournies and stuff.. the 3D is more of a guilty pleasure thing. We are in the market for 120hz monitors for competitive gaming, and we're willing to blow the extra dollars for 3D just for the fun. I know my pc will be great for it since im running twin 660ti's, and I'll probably play a couple games in 3D when I'm in the mood, but I guess I just want to know if my friend will be able to get something out of it too on his card or if he would be blowing his money when he should have just gotten a regular 120 hz monitor instead.

[cybereality]

Well the 3D is worth it, if you can afford it. AFAIK pretty much all the 120Hz monitors are also 3D monitors so you don't have to worry there. Just make sure its one on Nvidia's supported list (see the link Fredz posted above). And, as much as I love 3D, when I play competitive online I use 2D since the 120Hz is an advantage. So I think you have the right idea.