That's what I am wondering as well. It definately sounds very interesting. I hope it offers more real world performance than SLI. I have heard rumors of it costing around $250.00. Which if the performance is right might make it a worth while investment.
the games that have full immersion capabilities will be able to use the PPU but those that dont will be left high and dry because the have not been designed to have real world physics capabilities. if you want to see the difference in a game with a regular graphics card and one with the PhysX processor, go to this site, its pretty bad ass.
I would say this new physics card is going to improve the rigs performance. Okay, in a pc with no physics card the physics that is mainly scripted are run by the cpu obiously. But with the addition of the physics card, now the cpu would no longer have the task of running the physics on the game for the physics card takes it over, well most of it. So the performance will definitety increase in a pc sporting a graphics card. Bottom line, 3 chips (cpu,gpu & ppu) working together is better than just the cpu and the graphics card.
As Agiea have mention, the card supports some games that are already out but would not fully implement it. Games like Cellfactor and others alike that are soon due would fully soppurt this physics card.
I mainly play BF2 and FEAR most of the time and I wonder how this new card can improve the game performance. I'm very interested with these physics card, but I not so sure if I want to buy right after it comes out, which is this coming May. Since none of my games that fully supports this card I would say I just gonna wait like the end of this year for games that supports this card and by then the price would be cheaper than $300.
i dunno is this physx card be better than sli physics?
nvidia announced that they will release physics driver for sli setup...
ageia physx will cost 299.99.... hm... price of another geforce 7900gt...
if nvida can manage a whole vga card to manage only physics... it might be better no?
unless...
ageia physx card can fit on other slots than pcie x16...
Even though Nvidia is making a physics driver there are a couple things that make me cautious. The first thing is that you have to have dual cards to make use of it. The second thing is that it still is putting tax on the GPUs instead of the CPU. It seems to me that a card dedicated to physics is just the ticket.
The graphics card has little to do with the physics. It's the cpu job to do all physics like movement, interactive and effects. The graphics card's job is to render the picture/visuals like the image, shadows, ligthings etc. With the addition of the physics card on and SLI system it would make it perform a lot better and improved the physics in the game. Like I mentioned before the physics card will take over the cpu in managing the physics effect in the game.
The graphics card has little to do with the physics. It's the cpu job to do all physics like movement, interactive and effects. The graphics card's job is to render the picture/visuals like the image, shadows, ligthings etc. With the addition of the physics card on and SLI system it would make it perform a lot better and improved the physics in the game. Like I mentioned before the physics card will take over the cpu in managing the physics effect in the game.
i understand that gpu is calculating visual;
but nvidia is claiming that one gpu will be doing physics calculation dedicated.
although, that's if they make the driver correctly...
so.. basically, nvidia will make a gpu card to an physics card by a driver update... i wonder if it is possible though...
maybe it will perform great... maybe not...
we'll just have to wait and see....
btw... BFG physx card will be released in end of may to end-users, according to BFG.
Well, Nvidia is going to come out with a driver that improves physics. I believe you, but Nv cards are not made for physics and that they're trying to release a physics driver for their card make me think that Nvidia is getting intimedated by the Agiea Physix card.
I'm looking forward to that Nvidia physics improvement driver and see if it's going to increase my performance. If you think about it, that Nvidia new driver for physics is gonna affect the rendering job of the card as it is designed in the first place. We could only hope that maybe Nvidia will start producing cards as gpu and ppu in one.
i aint going to try to refute what your saying chuckshissle, but i really don't think your can comprehend the processing power of GPU's. a CPU and GPU are different but both ATI and nvidia are trying to allow physics on their chips. all the agiea chip will do is use the right calculations to simulate physics. the GPU's of today have more than enough power to accomplish this. they just have to be communicated with right.
i believe ATI have went further by allowing developers some access to the details of their chip so they can program physics in games. if developers know how to program physics so it will be done by the GPU then there is to my knowledge no reason for it not to work.
Be that as it may, if I am looking for longevity of my rig, I'd much rather have a dedicated unit towards physics than tax my GPUs in any way. The less they are taxed the longer I can keep them in the future with games like Cellfactor.
Its like saying when the first GPU card is out, the CPU is better at prosessing Graphics than the GPU, LOL.
How many time do I need to post this......
Ok, here goes, 1st the GPU Physics is only for visual, looks only, no interactive content, you cannot interact with it. 2nd GPUs are more of a kind of "Inline" or we call "The Production Line" in car factories, NOTHING goes BACKWARDS, but the CPU does, the PPU does even more.
More overly, games running the Agiea PhyX ppu, ragdoll DO NOT dissapear, other stuff wont too, see the video of CellFactor? Damn alsome, you will need the card to run the game, the video is recorded in real time. The Havocs GPU physics only calculates cloth simulation, some ragdoll effects, and particle effects, not too interactive ehh?
Why would anyone do SLI Physics? I would rather, have SLI and PPU with a Dual/Quad core CPU, GPUs are design for Graphics, CPU for prosessing data and stuff, PPU for physic, face the future guys and girls, we moved to GFX cards, it time to move to a PPU card too, anyway it wont cost much, consider it would actually last for like atleast 2 years.
Physics datas are RANDOM, GPU aren't design to do RANDOM data prossesing, CPUs are good at random codes but aren't optimized to run dedicatedly for Physics right? thats when the PPU comes in.
Conclusion: CPU are for data xfer, GFX for Graphics, Sound card for Sound and PPU for Physics. Just like in a American foot ball team, you can't have team with all the same people, just like in chess. you can have all the chess pieces the same, you would lose very easily.
Anyway, the PPU is the only thing that can do SUPA interactive inviro, imagine, you wana frag a guy hiding in a building, you can just blow up the buildings pillars, or you can blow OFF the ROOF and shoot the guy!!!!! LOL.
nah i don't buy it. they want you to think that so you'll buy the card, but like that article i posted said, gfx cards have alot of processing power and i don't think all of it is used at once in games.
can you please post an article backing up your point.
It does make you question how many new cards will we be craming into our future gaming rigs? With things like quad SLI graphics and PPUs where does it stop?
If you add in the giant power supply needed and you have a heat factory. I think it shows that water cooling will be mandatory pretty soon.
