Widescreen Gaming Forum

This tutorial assumes a number of things. They are:

You are using an nVidia video card that has a built-in scaler (the Geforce 6800nu and all later cards have one, not sure about earlier ones).
You have the latest Forceware drivers installed.
You are running Windows XP Home or Pro, with SP2 installed.
Your monitor is an LCD.
You are using a DVI-D cable with your monitor.
You are trying this on a game whose method is either .ini or Native.

First of all, do not do this if your goal is to PLAY games at a high resolution. The results will not look pretty. Do this if you want to benchmark or take screenshots (the screenshots will look perfect).

Now for the how-to. First, right-click your desktop and click properties. Go to settings, advanced, and click the tab that shows your graphics card name. On the frame that pops out, click "Screen Resolutions & Refresh Rates." Uncheck "Hide modes that this monitor cannot support." Move the screen resolution slider and look for all of these resolutions, making a note of the ones that do not appear:

1280x720, 1280x768, 1280x800, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1920x1080, 1920x1200

If any do not appear, click the "Add" button. Enter in each resolution manually, and click "Add." When all are added, click OK.

Now click "nView Display Settings" on the pop-out frame. Click "Device Settings >>" and "Device Adjustments." Set the scaling to "Display adapter scaling." Click OK. If this makes your screen look distorted, set it to "Monitor Scaling" AFTER you're done taking screenshots/benchmarks, but remember to set it to "Display adapter scaling" again next time you want to do this. OK your way out of the dialog.

If your game has native widescreen support:
Note: I have only tested this in Counterstrike Source, but I assume it works with other games too.
Create a shortcut directly to the game. Click, but do not double-click, on it. Now, unplug your monitor from the computer. Wait a few seconds for Windows to unload the monitor's driver. Hit Enter on the keyboard. Wait a minute for the game to completely load. When you think it's done loading, plug the monitor back in. Now go to the game's options screen, and look at the available resolutions. You should see resolutions available that your monitor normally cannot support. Select your desired resolution. The game will not look pretty on your screen, but it should be legible enough to judge positions for a good screenshot.

If your game has .ini widescreen support:
Note: I have only tested this in Doom 3, but I assume it works with other games too.
Edit the game's options file and set the resolution to whatever you like. Save it. Create a shortcut directly to the game. Click, but do not double-click, on it. Now, unplug your monitor from the computer. Wait a few seconds for Windows to unload the monitor's driver. Hit Enter on the keyboard. Wait a minute for the game to completely load. When you think it's done loading, plug the monitor back in. The game should be running at your desired resolution. The game will not look pretty on your screen, but it should be legible enough to judge positions for a good screenshot.

I know it works on the 5900XT, too... :) So the FX series probably all supports it...

FYI, this seems to not work when you're running the 91.28 drivers in 'Classic Control Panel' mode.