Best PhysX card

[carlosb]

Ok so guys, I need some quick advice here. This question has probably been asked many times but I couldnt find much information on the matter. So as more and more games (like Borderlands 2) are beginnning to use PhysX I'm actually considering buying a dedicated PhysX card. So I was wondering which one would be best to pair up with a 560 Ti. I've been thinking about just getting another 560 Ti but I don't think I'm ready to fork out over 200 dollars on one just yet . I've been considering the GT 640 and the newly released GTX 650 (non-ti) version. Also my CPU is a i5 2500k.
Any replies are very much appreciated.

 

[computernoob29]

either of those would be good, but if its just for physx i would get whatevers cheapest, you could probly even go with a gt 630

 

[nbelote]

For pure PhysX you should get something relatively cheap, like a GT 250 or something.

 

[renz496]

first of all did you have games that really use advance PhysX feature like borderland 2, batman AA etc? if you dont have such a game dont bother to add dedicated physx card to your pc. if you do have one of those games than try to play the game with physx enabled and see the performance impact first before deciding to fork for more money for dedicated physx card.

does your motherboard support sli? if it does it is better to opt for sli setup than adding weaker dedicated card for physx

 

[carlosb]

Eveyone thank you for you answers.

first of all did you have games that really use advance PhysX feature like borderland 2, batman AA etc? if you dont have such a game dont bother to add dedicated physx card to your pc. if you do have one of those games than try to play the game with physx enabled and see the performance impact first before deciding to fork for more money for dedicated physx card.

does your motherboard support sli? if it does it is better to opt for sli setup than adding weaker dedicated card for physx

Yes all my specs are ready to use sli (except maybe my psu). And yes Boderlands runs just fine but with PhysX on medium, while making up for other settings to be placed on high. I'm happy only using my 560 Ti and from what I've read and seen SLI'ing two gtx 560 ti doesnt get you alot more performance graphics-wise. Thats why I'm opting for a 100 dollar card instead of a 200 dollar one.

 

[nbelote]

You don't need a ton of power for a purely physx card. Get a $50 GT 250 on ebay or something and save yourself the trouble, as that card has all the power for physx that you'd need.

 

[renz496]

what is your gaming resolution? with 560ti in sli you will be good for a few years. another plus would be you setup will be strong enough to handle advance physx. so to sum it up with 560ti sli setup you will have a system that quite capable of handling demanding games and in case such as borderland 2 you will be able to crank up the setting and enabled physx to high because of raw power advantage you got from the setup.

1gb of ram might be a concern in the future but even at 1080p it should be enough if you leave MSAA out of the equation.

 

[carlosb]

what is your gaming resolution? with 560ti in sli you will be good for a few years. another plus would be you setup will be strong enough to handle advance physx. so to sum it up with 560ti sli setup you will have a system that quite capable of handling demanding games and in case such as borderland 2 you will be able to crank up the setting and enabled physx to high because of raw power advantage you got from the setup.

1gb of ram might be a concern in the future but even at 1080p it should be enough if you leave MSAA out of the equation.

Hmmm... I agree at 1080p I dont think I need MSAA. The 1gb is what worried me but thinking about it it's not like a well made game will be using alot of memory. I think I will have to do some saving up and check if my PSU can handle it (I can do that myself). Thanks!

 

[carlosb]

Best answer selected by carlosb.

 

[bigcyco1]

Uploaded with ImageShack.usPictured above is single slot XFX 9800GT and these days these are starting to get hard to come by due to their size, once you start loading up your PC with a few PCI/PCIe devices space becomes an issue so a single slot card is ideal. A 9800GT is very good starting point for dedicated PhysX card but if you are one of those people that likes to “max everything out” you may want to get something a little bigger like 450, but that’s starting to enter “overkill territory”.

 

[renz496]

Hmmm... I agree at 1080p I dont think I need MSAA. The 1gb is what worried me but thinking about it it's not like a well made game will be using alot of memory. I think I will have to do some saving up and check if my PSU can handle it (I can do that myself). Thanks!

i know some people can be quite picky about anti aliasing but if you dont really into specifics with it you can always use FXAA which i believe are comparable to 4X MSAA. the clear advantage of FXAA are the very little performance hit it has on frame rates compared to traditional AA like MSAA. to nvidia users FXAA is a bonus because for games that did not natively supporting FXAA it can be force from the control panel.