Sapphire 5870 for graphics + GT 8600 for Physx. Will it work?

[onn_e]

I have a Asus P7P55D-E Pro motherboard + Intel Core i5 760 + Sapphire HD Radeon 5870.

I would like to add an Nvidia Geforce 8600GT for Physx gaming.

1) Will it work on my system?
2) Will it slow down my ATI card?
3) Is the improvement in games like Mafia II and Arkham Asylum worth it? (never played them before)
4) I also have a PS3 system. Does it run Physx capabilities? Am I better off getting those games for the PS3?


Thanks
Onn

 

[Helltech]

If you already own the 8600GT you can try hacked Phsyx drivers.

http://www.overclock.net/ati/591872-how-run-physx-windows-7-ati.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIJvURKtK1k

The PlayStation 3 version became subject to controversy on 2K's Mafia II forums when 2K's interactive marketing manager Elizabeth Tobey stated that the PlayStation 3 version would be missing certain features that were present in the PC and Xbox 360 versions including three dimensional grass, pools of blood forming under dead bodies and realistic cloth physics.[24] These features were said to be present in earlier builds of the game, but had to be removed to increase the game's frame rate.

 

[buzznut]

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't pay much for the 8600gt for physx.
Sometimes catalyst drivers and nVidia drivers on the same system don't play nice together.
In theory it should work just fine, but I don't think you'd be missing much. On the other hand, if you already have the card why not give it a try?

 

[Helltech]

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't pay much for the 8600gt for physx.
Sometimes catalyst drivers and nVidia drivers on the same system don't play nice together.
In theory it should work just fine, but I don't think you'd be missing much. On the other hand, if you already have the card why not give it a try?

Without hacked drivers will not work. A long time ago you could use an ATI GPU with Nvidia Phsyx, but Nvidia has made it so that when there is a ATI card in the system it will shut down the use of Phsyx. As far as I know the only way around this is with the link I posted in my last post.

 

[onn_e]

If you already own the 8600GT you can try hacked Phsyx drivers.

http://www.overclock.net/ati/591872-how-run-physx-windows-7-ati.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIJvURKtK1k

The PlayStation 3 version became subject to controversy on 2K's Mafia II forums when 2K's interactive marketing manager Elizabeth Tobey stated that the PlayStation 3 version would be missing certain features that were present in the PC and Xbox 360 versions including three dimensional grass, pools of blood forming under dead bodies and realistic cloth physics.[24] These features were said to be present in earlier builds of the game, but had to be removed to increase the game's frame rate.

I don't already have the card but I can get it for around 30 bucks.
I was looking at some Mafia II Physx abilities videos and am excited to some level from the visual benefit.
Now I only have to decide if I want to spend the 30-50 bucks for it.

is 8600GT enough? will GT220 do the work? will GT210 do?

 

[Helltech]

I wouldn't get anything expensive since you are already going out on a limb and using hacked driver.

The 8600GT should work.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_gpus.html

 

[thently]

220 or 240 are supposed to be min you would want for phsx. To crank it up people are using 9800gtx's and 260gtx's that little 8600 gt will be hurting only 32 cores vs 48 on 220 and 96 on 240. I used a 9600 gt with a 260gtx as main and that seemed to be fine in BMAS at max so that area of card would be min for me 9600gt has 64 cores..

T

 

[OvrClkr]

The 8600GT will work fine as a dedicated physX card, 32 shaders is the minimal hardware requirement for PhysX (secondary). The only game that will struggle with 32 shaders is Cryostasis or Batman AA at very high resolutions.

Every now n then I install a GTS 250 for physx (when im bored) and for the most part it works fine, the only game that gives me issues is BC2 (screen flickering), Mirrors Edge/Batman AA/UT3 do indeed look great but the physX in those games are minimal, if you like looking at broken particles fly through the air then go ahead, if not don't even bother.

 

[wh3resmycar]

due to the very outstanding and sophistication of nvidia's physx drivers (sarcasm). there's a chance an 8600gt as a physx add-on will hamper your gaming experience, rather than improve it.

http://physxinfo.com/news/3728/mafia-ii-demo-physx-benchmarks-roundup

note the negative return of a gtx480/9800gtx setup vs a solo'd gtx480.

 

[wolfram23]

I bought a GT 240 for PhysX and it works great ($65 after MIB). The PhysX effects are really fun. It almost never causes a GPU bottleneck (running a pair of 5850s), the only time ever that I've seen (and it wasn't noticeable either) was in Mafia 2 when you blow up this hideout with moltov cocktails. The 240 usage hit max (which, btw, is only about 80% because it's on a 4x PCIe 1.1 lane) and my FPS dropped from 60 (vsync on) to about 40 during that scene. Otherwise it's worked mostly flawlessly. I've played Metro 2033, Batman AA, Mirror's Edge, a little bit of Dark Void, Cryostasis. Oh and no, PS3 does not do PhysX acceleration. Just FYI, PhysX comes in 2 flavours, the physics engine which is just like any other (Havok, Bullet, etc) and GPU accelerated PhysX which is where it adds advanced particle, smoke, and cloth effects using GPU resources.

All you need is GenL V1.04ff with latest PhysX and NV drivers

 

[onn_e]

The 8600GT will work fine as a dedicated physX card, 32 shaders is the minimal hardware requirement for PhysX (secondary). The only game that will struggle with 32 shaders is Cryostasis or Batman AA at very high resolutions.

Every now n then I install a GTS 250 for physx (when im bored) and for the most part it works fine, the only game that gives me issues is BC2 (screen flickering), Mirrors Edge/Batman AA/UT3 do indeed look great but the physX in those games are minimal, if you like looking at broken particles fly through the air then go ahead, if not don't even bother.

Thanks OvrClkr.

I really do like broken particles flying through the air in my games.
And I play in Full HD. Not higher. Do we consider that as very high resolutions?

In light of this, should I still stick to a 8600GT or should I wait a little longer and then get me a GTS 250?

Thanks.

 

[OvrClkr]

At 1080p you are fine with the 8600GT, but it's your call.. If you can wait and get a 250 that would be your best option.

 

[thently]

I am going to dissagree 8600 gt is the lowest card that can do it and will not be acceptable at all at 1080p I have low framerates off and on with the 9600gt half that will be painful not sure why the other guy thinks you'll be fine.... Read reviews on toms or google best physx cards or Batman best physx cards and look nothing in the 8000 range will ever be mentioned... Just trying to help you out they were weak all but the 8800 gtx and up... I would not go below the Nvidia 200 range 220,240, or 250. Maybe 9600 or 9800 gt. the 200's will use less juice and be quiter.

PS I play at 1080p

T

 

[OvrClkr]

I am going to dissagree 8600 gt is the lowest card that can do it and will not be acceptable at all at 1080p I have low framerates off and on with the 9600gt half that will be painful not sure why the other guy thinks you'll be fine.... Read reviews on toms or google best physx cards or Batman best physx cards and look nothing in the 8000 range will ever be mentioned... Just trying to help you out they were weak all but the 8800 gtx and up... I would not go below the Nvidia 200 range 220,240, or 250. Maybe 9600 or 9800 gt. the 200's will use less juice and be quiter.

PS I play at 1080p

T

So you play at 1080p? Whats the rest of your spec's?

 

[thently]

q9400 at 3.8 8 gigs ddr2 at 1066 5 drive raid 0 260gtx main card 9600 gt physx card.

PS Not trying to start anything with you Ovr just want him to have a good experiance. And with that powerful of a main card why mess it up with a weak 2nd..
T

 

[onn_e]

Best answer selected by onn_e.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey