Dedicated PhysX card ?!

[rex000]

Hello,

Just wanted an opinion from a performance perspective of having a dedicated graphics card.

I have a Zotac GTX560Ti as well as an older overclocked XFX 9600 GSO lying around, and it just occurred to me that I could be using the two in the same machine. My question is, in a game that utilizing PhysX, would I see an increase or decrease in performance? I know the 9600GSO is slow and there would be no point adding it in if it bottle-necked graphic performance.


Also, what do you think would a better configuration?

GTX560Ti @ x8 + 9600GSO @ x8

OR

GTX560Ti @ x16 + 9600GSO @ x4

Yeah, the mobo is weird like that.


Specs:

Intel i3 2120 CPU
Gigabyte Z68 MOBO
OCZ 700W 80+ PSU

Zotac GTX 560 Ti overclocked
http://www.zotacusa.com/geforce-gtx-560-ti-zt-50301-10m.html

XFX 9600 GSO overclocked
http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Products/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA/NVIDIA-GeForce-9-Series/NVIDIA-GeForce-9600-GSO.aspx

 

[jsrudd]

Your 560 ti wouldn't be bottlenecked by a PCI-e x8 slot and the 4x slot should be fine for the physX card (in the games that actually use PhysX).

 

[rex000]

Great to know, Thanks for the advice.

My main question is what kind of performance can I see with adding in the 9600GSO. I read that if the first card is powerful enough, then adding in a weak PhysX card will not be able to keep up and actually worsen performance.

 

[nforce4max]

Increase, 8x pci-e isn't much of an nerf at all and taking the load of the main card makes a big difference in some titles. Even more so when used alongside two or more cards in sli.

 

[fizzle22]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbww3dhzK0M

Apparently using a card that is a different generation as a dedicated PhysX card causes a decrease in performance. So a 560ti should be used with another 5xx series card, 470 with 4xx, etc.

I do not have any experience so am purely relying on the info provided in the video.

 

[rex000]

Thanks for the video link. I knew I remember Linus doing something about the PhysX.

However, what I gathered from the video was to NOT pair a weak card (for PhysX) that cannot keep up with the main GPU. The gap between the 8600GTS and the GTX580 is too wide.

My scenario will be a little bit better. The 9600GSO is better than the 8600GTS, and the GTX560Ti is worse GTX580. There will be less of a gap so less potential for a bottleneck. I guess I'll have to test the two scenarios on my own to see what's better.

And from what I'm gathering x4 slots should be enough for a low-range card. I'm hoping the 9600GSO will not be crippled by x4 lanes, and I'm hoping the GTX560Ti will not be crippled by the 9600GSO. haha.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[El Tigre]

I hear that if you are on the 6XX series, it's best to use a 4XX and later GPU, not too sure about 5XX series though. My GTX 670 performs wonderfully alongside with my GTX 560 Ti as the PhysX processor.

Since you have the card already, It would not hurt to give it a try.

 

[Guest]

you're talking about a card with 96 cuda cores . . . i smell a fail.

 

[rex000]

you're talking about a card with 96 cuda cores . . . i smell a fail.

When you put it that way.. seems like a really bad idea. Especially since my card only has 48 CUDA cores and a 128-bit bus width; 512MB GDDR3!

BUT, I can overclock to core to 650Mhz and memory to 1000Mhz; maybe I can push it even further...

 

[xtc28]

It may not be exactly the same, but I use a 9800 gt along side of a gtx 480 in one of my gamers. My frame rate improves significantly. My effects look good as well. Just try it and let us know

 

[rex000]

What a coincidence... I have two 9800GTs in SLI, but then I upgraded to two GTX480s in SLI... never even thought of saving them for PhysX.

With regards to the "gap" mentioned before, a GTX480/9800GT should be about the same as a GTX560Ti/9600GSO. So thanks for your input, I will let you know how it goes. I'm building the PC tomorrow, picking up last pieces in-store in the morning!

 

[nforce4max]

you're talking about a card with 96 cuda cores . . . i smell a fail.

You must not know much about older cards. There is a vast difference between the G92 and Fermi era cards. Physx is only sensitive to total shader count and vram bandwidth. Anything below a 9600GT level performance which does include GT520, GT640, GT430, GT240, and several other cards that either match or fall short of what this card can offer. The only real bottleneck is the 128bit that is half of what the full spec of a G92 should be and 64bit less than a typical 9600gso.

The only way to tell if it will really work is to test it. Just about any Fermi era card does gain some benefit from having a dedicated physx card provided that the rest of the system is decent.

 

[nforce4max]

What a coincidence... I have two 9800GTs in SLI, but then I upgraded to two GTX480s in SLI... never even thought of saving them for PhysX.

With regards to the "gap" mentioned before, a GTX480/9800GT should be about the same as a GTX560Ti/9600GSO. So thanks for your input, I will let you know how it goes. I'm building the PC tomorrow, picking up last pieces in-store in the morning!

Your gtx 560ti when overclocked to 950mhz or higher will equal a stock clocked gtx480/570 in most games while the 9600gso that you will won't offer the same bang as a 8800/9800gt due to the memory being weaker. I would give it a try but wouldn't bank on it. The 9800gt is a lot better for physx than any 9600 branded card. When paired with my gtx 460 256bit my 8800gt rarely topped 50% load in mafia 2 with physx setting set to max.

 

[Guest]

You must not know much about older cards. There is a vast difference between the G92 and Fermi era cards. Physx is only sensitive to total shader count and vram bandwidth. Anything below a 9600GT level performance which does include GT520, GT640, GT430, GT240, and several other cards that either match or fall short of what this card can offer. The only real bottleneck is the 128bit that is half of what the full spec of a G92 should be and 64bit less than a typical 9600gso.

The only way to tell if it will really work is to test it. Just about any Fermi era card does gain some benefit from having a dedicated physx card provided that the rest of the system is decent.

actually i speak from trying to use a 9600GT 1Gb
and having a 8500GT, 9600GT, GT 220 and GTX 550ti; i can say i have had a few nVidia cards . . .

and not any fermi card or any card will benefit from having a physX card; it depends on what card is being used for physX. which does depend on how any cuda cores there are and seeing that a 9600GCO has 96 cores
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-9600-gso/specifications
i suspect it will not be useful.

and speaking about being useful . .was there a point to your reply?

 

[nforce4max]

actually i speak from trying to use a 9600GT 1Gb
and having a 8500GT, 9600GT, GT 220 and GTX 550ti; i can say i have had a few nVidia cards . . .

and not any fermi card or any card will benefit from having a physX card; it depends on what card is being used for physX. which does depend on how any cuda cores there are and seeing that a 9600GCO has 96 cores
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-9600-gso/specifications
i suspect it will not be useful.

and speaking about being useful . .was there a point to your reply?

Your comments are quite useless as well and the 9600gso isn't entirely crap.

 

[rex000]

Best answer selected by rex000.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey