HaGa11aZ
New Member
I've been looking at a few stock PCs from Dell and Alienware, and some of them include a GPU AND the Ageia PhysX card. I was startled at first thinking... "two GPU?!" ...only to find out the the PhysX isn't even a GPU but rather a PPU (physics processing unit).
I did a little more research and have come to the understanding that this card is not really necessary for games that support it, such as Unreal Tournament 2007. I also, so far, understand that it basically takes a lot of the load off of the CPU for physics calculations and algorithms, that being a responsibility which the CPU solely has always carried beforehand.
Is this true? Is the PhysX card basically just another processing unit that takes some load off the CPU? Will i be able to use the same physics features with a rockin' CPU that can man-handle the responsibilities itself?
This also raises some interesting questions in regards to next-gen consoles. Correct me if i'm wrong but neither the 360 nor the PS3 will have this Ageia PhysX hardware in it. But if games like UT2007 that also feature the PhysX are also on a console like the PS3 w/o that PPU, what does that mean for the console gamers?
I'm thinking that the processing power of the PS3, regardless of it not having the PhysX brand hardware, can still utilize the physics advantages of its PhysX featured PC counterpart.
And then there came DirectX 10. It is supposed to allow DX10 featured GPUs the shared responsibility of the CPU, making them much more efficient and balanced. So if last year's PC had the GPU do all the graphics and the CPU do all the physics, this year's DX10 enabled GPU will do both.
Is this right so far? If so, it means that DX10 enabled GPUs will destroy the practicality of having a PhysX card.
What do you all think?
I did a little more research and have come to the understanding that this card is not really necessary for games that support it, such as Unreal Tournament 2007. I also, so far, understand that it basically takes a lot of the load off of the CPU for physics calculations and algorithms, that being a responsibility which the CPU solely has always carried beforehand.
Is this true? Is the PhysX card basically just another processing unit that takes some load off the CPU? Will i be able to use the same physics features with a rockin' CPU that can man-handle the responsibilities itself?
This also raises some interesting questions in regards to next-gen consoles. Correct me if i'm wrong but neither the 360 nor the PS3 will have this Ageia PhysX hardware in it. But if games like UT2007 that also feature the PhysX are also on a console like the PS3 w/o that PPU, what does that mean for the console gamers?
I'm thinking that the processing power of the PS3, regardless of it not having the PhysX brand hardware, can still utilize the physics advantages of its PhysX featured PC counterpart.
And then there came DirectX 10. It is supposed to allow DX10 featured GPUs the shared responsibility of the CPU, making them much more efficient and balanced. So if last year's PC had the GPU do all the graphics and the CPU do all the physics, this year's DX10 enabled GPU will do both.
Is this right so far? If so, it means that DX10 enabled GPUs will destroy the practicality of having a PhysX card.
What do you all think?
