Dedicated Physx card + Main AMD GFX card

[nate_09]

My current rig consists of:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 4.4 ghz (103x43) and at 1.3v
Biostar tz68a MB
8GB DDR3 1333 gskill ram(2x4gb)
Coolermaster 212plus
4 120mm case fans,
lg dvd burner
WD 500GB SATA II HD
HIS HD 4670 1gb
Corsair Builder Series CX600 600 watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply( http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Certified-Compatible-Platforms-CMPSU-600CXV2/dp/B004W2T2UQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336518576&sr=1-1 )

My gfx card is long overdue for an upgrade, so thats what i plan to do in the summer, I intend to buy a 7850, possibly overclock it to
7870 speeds, and get a second gpu to act as a dedicated physx card with the mod drivers, gpu i have in mind to buy is a used 9800gtx( http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-512-P3-N871-AR-GeForce-9800GTX-Graphics/dp/B0016BL5M4/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1336518060&sr=1-2 ) i found on amazon.

My question is would my PSU be capable of handling all of this? thanks in advance!
Oh! and also, my 2nd gpu slot is only 4X would that reli affect the physx performance?

 

[bystander]

I'm not sure it matters about the new AMD cards. All the hack does is remove the restriction Nvidia placed on their cards that prevent them from using PhysX, there is no interfacing with the card. It never mattered before when Agea had it either. With a 9800GT, you'd just use the drivers that GenL said he tested them with and you are fine. It's old tech, so what ever drivers GenL used, should work.

That said, what games do you even play that need PhysX? And why not use an Nvidia card if they are important to you?

 

[nate_09]

Hmmm but isn't the hack just a patch for the physx drivers to allow a dedicated nvidia physx card to be used when an AMD card is present?
And if i should choose to go Nvidia, what would be the best bang for buck in that price range similar to the 7850?

 

[bystander]

First off, what PhysX games do you have?

 

[inzone]

If you buy an Nvidia card then you only have to get one card because the Nvidia cards will do the PhysX acceleration along with the rendering of the game. You can pick up a GTX 570 for the price of the two cards you were thinking of getting and that way you won't have to go through the hassell of trying to get two different cards to work together.

 

[bystander]

Ah thought that you had to hack both the nvidia and AMD drivers to get it working. Yeah if you just have to hack the nvidia ones then you're fine I think.

Still don't necessarily think it's worth spending money on. You'd get more performance overall by putting that $40 extra towards your main GPU.

When I experimented with it, with an old 9800GT I had laying around, you only had to hack the Nvidia drivers.

 

[nate_09]

I love the Batman series arkham city and asylum, Mirrors edge, Mass effect 2, and 3 and i also play blacklight retribution ever so often

 

[bystander]

The reality is, if you really wanted to get a dedicated PhysX card, you're going to want to go with a minimum of a GTX 260, which is the recommended to use High PhysX settings in those games. If you are going to go dedicated, you might as well meet their recommended spec's for high settings.

At which point, you can go with any of AMD/Nvidia cards you choose. However, if you are not going to meet the recommended requirements for high PhysX, you might as well use a 580/670/680 and forget the dedicated card.

 

[nate_09]

The reality is, if you really wanted to get a dedicated PhysX card, you're going to want to go with a minimum of a GTX 260, which is the recommended to use High PhysX settings in those games. If you are going to go dedicated, you might as well meet their recommended spec's for high settings.

At which point, you can go with any of AMD/Nvidia cards you choose. However, if you are not going to meet the recommended requirements for high PhysX, you might as well use a 580/670/680 and forget the dedicated card.

Nah i dnt think id be willing so spend enough $ for a 260, i just got excited seeing a 9800gtx for $40 and thought id try it out, and a 580/670/680 is wayy out of my budget for now

 

[photonboy]

How to do AND Drawbacks:

How to do:
- buy and install the card
- obtain proper hacked drivers
- benchmark game with PhysX disabled
- benchmark game with PhysX running (on dedicated card)
*Some slower NVidia cards can cause a bottleneck causing the entire game to slow down.

Drawbacks:
- is it worth the COST of the dedicated card?
- extra noise of card

Other:
NVidia seems to suggest that even if you have two IDENTICAL cards (or a dual-GPU card) that some games CAN run better if the game is running on one GPU and PhysX on the other.

Huh. It would also eliminate the microstutter but I find it really odd that it would be more efficient to do that way.

 

[bystander]

Nah i dnt think id be willing so spend enough $ for a 260, i just got excited seeing a 9800gtx for $40 and thought id try it out, and a 580/670/680 is wayy out of my budget for now

IMO, if you aren't going to get a good enough dedicated PhysX card to meet the recommended spec's for High PhysX settings, you might as well spend the money towards a better primary Nvidia card and just use PhysX on normal.

 

[nate_09]

Best answer selected by nate_09.