Can i use my 8800GTX as a PhysX card?

[MightyG80]

Im thinking of buying a GTX285 next week... So i want to ask this, will i be able to use my old 8800GTX as a secondary PhysX card?

Also, if i can, how will i do it? Connect the 2 cards via SLI? Will i have to install any special drivers ? Or will the system freak-out detecting 2 graphic cards?

Thanks.

 

[RevengE]

You cannot run A 285 and a 8800gtx in SLI..It has to be the same series of cards Example x2 8800 GTX's would be fine or rather x2 285s. PhysX is a joke right now They might improve it down the road, as of right now I would not worry about it, Yes you could use it as a Physx Card but you cannot use SLI with a 285.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Yes you can run the 8800GTX as a dedicated Physx card, do not use the SLi bridge, put the 285 in the primary Pci-e slot, the 8800 in the secondry, you will be asked to load drivers for the 8800, then re-boot, go to the physx proggie in control panel and it should be identified or give you the option to enable it.

 

[Error 404]

I'm pretty sure the GTX 200 range has its own inbuild PhysX proc that is still on the core, but isn't part of the GPU; PhysX uses that instead of stealing SPUs from the main GPU.
So an 8800 GTX wouldn't do much at all for anything other than make noise, heat, and use a lot of power for nothing.

 

[MightyG80]

So, basically, what you are saying is that i can, but i shouldnt bother?

 

[Error 404]

So, basically, what you are saying is that i can, but i shouldnt bother?

Yeah, since the GTX 285 should take care of the PhysX by itself without affecting its graphics processing speed, the 8800 GTX would be like painting a rocket red to make it go faster.

 

[Tatty_Two]

The 285 will take a performance hit rendering and running Physx, albeit a small one, it does not have dedicated SP's to do the job, it's just very powerful and efficient, CUDA 3/4 has really fined tuned the Physx process but you can still see some small gains from a dedicated card (especially a powerful one like the 8800GTX), averaging around 5-8% in FPS..... is it worth it therefore?...... only you can decide that.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Sorry, seems I under estimated, with a decent dedicated card doing Physx you can get upto a 20% performance increase in some Physx enabled games

http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/in...sk=view&id=643&Itemid=29&limit=1&limitstart=2

So yes, it is worth it, but bare in mind, currently there are not all that many Physx enabled games, but there will be more.

 

[MightyG80]

Thanks guys

 

[Error 404]

Well, if you are going to run a PhysX card, then I'd reccommend something like an 8400 GS; that will easily do dedicated PhysX, use much less power and produce much less heat than a big 8800 GTX.

 

[MightyG80]

That i am thinking too. There is one more reason i might do excactly that - My brother has a 8800GTX in his rig also and i may as well give him mine to use it in SLI. So i am considering this last option you said error 404 - if i go dedicated PhysX that is ( im still thinking about it )

 

[Tatty_Two]

Well, if you are going to run a PhysX card, then I'd reccommend something like an 8400 GS; that will easily do dedicated PhysX, use much less power and produce much less heat than a big 8800 GTX.

Agreed, but actually he wont see anywhere near the Physx perrformance improvements over the 8800GTX but it is a fine balancing act, the 8800GTX would be overkill IMO but results with the 8400GS only show marginal improvements apparently, the 9600GSO tested in the link I posted would seem the optimum. Them 8800GTX's are pretty power hungry and it certainly aint worth it if you have to upgrade the damn power supply to run it!

 

[Error 404]

A 9600 GSO or GT would make a perfect PhysX card, especially if you have the spare cash.
MightyG80, if you consider getting a GSO or something similar, you should consider looking at the Folding@Home section; join the TPU Folding@Home team, help fight diseases, and put the time your graphics cards are idle to good use!