Physics Cards...

[Resonance456]

Hey all,

I was thinking of buying an ageia phsyx cards, but i was wandering what does it really do? I understand it to be that by having a physics card, your graphics card can focus solely on the graphics whilst the physics card produces physics, is this right? Also, does it also improve frame rates as your graphics has to worry about less so to speak?
Also, what mobo slot does it take, is it PCI-E, or PCI? IF it is PCI-E, does that mean u need an SLI mobo that has 2 of those slots?

 

[RHochstenbach]

Physics cards render the game components that make every thing move like it does in nature (real-time weight of objects, wind effects and explosion). If you play a game that suddenly renders a big explosion, you might know that the frame rate will go down. But a physics card renders all these components, so the CPU and graphics card won't have to render it. The card only works in games that support the physics card (G.R.A.W. is one of those games) And this card uses a PCI slot.
You can find more information here.

 

[Resonance456]

thx dude, nice one :D found that info link a lil earlier - thanx for the help ne ways :good:

 

[RHochstenbach]

Sure, glad to help :)

 

[Big B]

Right now, there's very few games that support the Ageia PhysX chip, so if you don't intend to play them a lot, then I'd think twice about dropping the cash on them. It does look like CellFactor is getting a boost, but that's because it was built around Physics acceleration. I don't know if GRAW is finally getting some benefits or not, but the last article I read wasn't exactly compelling me to purchase one. Unreal Tournament 3 is boasting support, and that could be the killer game for the PhysX card.

Ageia is attempting to create a new product market, so right now, you don't have the luxury of many games supporting it and it remains to be seen if the consumers will really want it or it will end up as a flop.

If you have a lot of free PCI slots, that's fine, but if you've got a newer motherboard with 2 or 3, you might want to hang loose. I believe some PCIe x1 PhysX cards are in the works, something that needs to happen to help move on.