Actually, Nvidia is using what parallel processing power they have now to offload some physics calculations on one side and render the image on another. Remember that GPUs are essentially BIG floating point processing units, and that physics calculations require that kind of processing power.
I remember an article about a guy developing a driver able to use a FPU to process high quality sound effects, and getting tremendous results out of that.
However, GPU are also geared towards graphics, so they are not really adapted to the kind of maths physics require.
As such, a dedicated FPU such as Ageia's has some great potential. Don't take it as a graphics processing unit, but as a floating point coprocessor extention card...
Yeah, the ability to extend realism to this level sounds great. Nvidia just released a notice that they will be releasing drivers, or program orwhatever they need to to turn SLI into a giant physics board. This add's a very interesting seat to the table in the SLI debate. Now (assuming thier sli physics release does things right) you get 2 benefits from sli (besides e-penismeasuring lol): increased frame rates, and real-time physics effects in games. To me, that would make me feel much better about keeping SLI.
In SLI it doesn't seem like it uses all the availible GPU power, and this would most definately soak up and free cycles. It also allows Nvidia to release GPU's that are over powered reletive to the games availible at the time. This should be interesting to see how it plays out.
That's is pretty awesome but how the heck is this card going to fit in my rig. I got sli and sound card and I got no space left! Im definitely getting this when it comes out whenever. The demo video looks awesome with this physics engine. Wow, graphics, physics and sound card combine altogether would make games so much better.
i don`t see the connection between ageia physics processor and sli or quad ....this is simply a deviced attached to the gpu ..
As I understand they are 2 totaly diffrent implimentations of the same idea, real-time physics calculations. Ageia is releasing a dedicated card while Nvidia is going to use free floating point processing power in SLI configurations to do the physics calculations. Who's is better? I have no idea
To calculate the way all elements in a 3D scene interact, you need a lot of floating point calculations. Today's processors aren't able to handle it satisfactorily on complex scenes.
GPUs are heavyweight floating point processing units. They are geared towards graphics calculations, but they still kick a processor's FPU pants in general FPU calculations.
Now, if you have a graphics card calculating the physics, and one calculating the image, then you find yourself using the same hardware than a 'typical' SLI setup requires.
However, like I said, a graphics card is made for graphics calculation - a dedicated chip would have the same processing power at lower clock speeds, and be more economical.
You don't remember the way some people felt when the first 3D accelerators came out, do you? Who remembers re-discovering Lara Croft in Tomb Raider when the 3dfx version came out, with all those Gouraud shadings and bilinear filtered textures?
I've been waiting for somethign like this for a long time. Even in BF2 you can sit there and watch as the most bullshit things happen. Since when can an assault trooper take down a sniper when the sniper is on the edge of scope range? hehe. Since when does missing a infantry unit by 1 ft with a tank shell not kill him? things like that make me laugh, hopefully this Physics stuff will fix some of it.
we`ll see ... thats the beauty of it ... it think that 3d should be followed up by 4d ....the time element stuff like that ....it is where perhaps ..ageia will do the job ....
Short version:
a gpu calculates a graphics scene, from objects and elements transmitted by the CPU. The cpu still handles how those objects move and interact one with the other.
This aegis card (and Nvidia's new use of SLI) would deal with object interaction in the cpu's place, and since it would be geared to do that, be much more effective at this task. In effect, this card would feed the 3D rendered (a GPU) much more complex scenes to render, much faster.
we`ll see ... thats the beauty of it ... it think that 3d should be followed up by 4d ....the time element stuff like that ....it is where perhaps ..ageia will do the job ....
oh god... lets not get into 4th dimension crap here, next thingyou know we will be asking for 5d gaming LOL.
yaa...and what would the 5-th element be ..any ideas.....
remember the little games ..in whitch you raised a little pet .... you fed it and stuff like that.........that`s where the time cames in........
...just imagine ...fighting in front lines ..your hair will grow ...you`ll get older and stuff like that .... i think thats the job for a time processor ..don`t you think sooo
the dude that raised this forum ..put the question...sli..quad...phisycs...and who`s next ...maybe ...who knows...the time mashine is here..........
