Friday, May 28th 2010

NVIDIA Removes Restriction on ATI GPUs with NVIDIA GPUs Processing PhysX

by
btarunr
 Discuss (276 Comments)
NVIDIA has reportedly removed the driver-level code which restricts users from having an NVIDIA GeForce GPU process PhysX with an ATI Radeon GPU in the lead, processing graphics. Version 257.15 Beta of the GeForce drivers brought about this change. Possible commercial interests may have played NVIDIA's previous decision to prevent the use of GeForce GPUs to process PhysX with ATI Radeon GPUs, where users could buy an inexpensive GeForce GPU to go with a high-end DirectX 11 compliant Radeon GPU, thereby reducing NVIDIA's margins, though officially NVIDIA maintained that the restriction was in place to ensure Quality Assurance. The present move also seems to have commercial interests in mind, as NVIDIA could clear inventories of GeForce GPUs at least to users of ATI Radeon GPUs. NVIDIA replenished its high-end offering recently with the DirectX 11 compliant GeForce 400 series GPUs.

Update (28/05): A fresh report by Anandtech says that the ability to use GeForce for PhysX in systems with graphics led by Radeon GPUs with the 257.15 beta driver is just a bug and not a feature. It means that this ability is one-off for this particular version of the driver, and future drivers may not feature it.
Source: NGOHQ.com

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276 Comments on NVIDIA Removes Restriction on ATI GPUs with NVIDIA GPUs Processing PhysX

#26
RejZoR
I think GeForce 8400GS 512MB should do the trick. I mean, was the actual PhysX PPU any faster than this thing?
Posted on Reply
#27
dadi_oh
RejZoRI think GeForce 8400GS 512MB should do the trick. I mean, was the actual PhysX PPU any faster than this thing?
Does the 8400GS have enough shaders though? I thought Physx needed 32 shaders minimum and I think the 8400GS only has 16?
Posted on Reply
#28
ShRoOmAlIsTiC
32 min, 8400gs is 16. 9600 or better should be used. the agiea ppu was actually a little better then a 9600gt. There was a review somewhere a while back.
Posted on Reply
#29
kenkickr
BarbaricSoulis it really worth it? I mean really, how many games actually use PhysX

I had a 8800gt running with my 5870 at one point, wasn't worth the trouble to set it up though.
There isn't a whole lot of games that use Physx but compared to Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, one of the first to support PPU Physx but it really didn't make much of a difference except lower avg framerates, there are games now that will blow your mind with GPU physx enabled like Batman Arkham Asylum and Metro 2033. Mirrors Edge is cool but I would definitely recommend BAA and Metro not just for the physx but tremendous gameplay and story.

I didn't think the 8400GS supported Physx.
Posted on Reply
#30
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
cool.... now i can slap in my 8600GT and... uhh.. well actually i have no games that use PhysX, lol. might aquire metro 2033 just for this.
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#31
TRIPTEX_CAN
I like the idea of getting higher quality physics but I'm not convinced on having to add another card to play the 6 games that actually use Nvidia physx. It's a desperation move from Nvidia on 2 fronts. It encourages more developers to use their physx and helps to move EOL GPUs off the shelves. I would not be surprised to see Nvidia drop support for this after it no longer fits their agenda.

Still with that said the Physx in Maffia 2 looks amazing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v1NgyzQ9tM www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcpEc6kC0HM

What's does a decent physx GPU run for now? If I could pick up a card for less that $50 I'd consider it.
Posted on Reply
#32
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
TRIPTEX_MTLI like the idea of getting higher quality physics but I'm not convinced on having to add another card to play the 6 games that actually use Nvidia physx. It's a desperation move from Nvidia on 2 fronts. It encourages more developers to use their physx and helps to move EOL GPUs off the shelves. I would not be surprised to see Nvidia drop support for this after it no longer fits their agenda.

Still with that said the Physx in Maffia 2 looks amazing.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v1NgyzQ9tM www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcpEc6kC0HM

What's does a decent physx GPU run for now? If I could pick up a card for less that $50 I'd consider it.
its more than 6 now, with metro 2033 and mafia II (going by what you said, i've not heard of the game)

edit: from a link a few posts down, its 14 games now.
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#33
kenkickr
TRIPTEX_MTLWhat's does a decent physx GPU run for now? If I could pick up a card for less that $50 I'd consider it.
The minimum I would recommend would be a 9600GS/GSO or 8800GS. Anything below is just uncivilized:D

Physxinfo.com is a great site to follow when it comes to physx supported games.
Posted on Reply
#34
lyndonguitar
I play games
newtekie1It isn't surprising, and btarunner pretty much hit the nail right on the head, this is done so they can clear out old weaker GPUs as PhysX cards. A quick trip over to eVGADIA...I mean eVGA...and they have huge adverts on the main page that say "GT 240 Makes a great Dedicated PhysX card!" and "Maximize your gaming experience with a PhysX card!" They aren't even calling them graphics cards at this point, they are simply referring to them as PhysX cards...:laugh:



You've got a PCI-E x1 slot...buy a dremel and a super cheap $50 9800GT and make yourselft a PCI-E x1 PhysX card. I recently chopped PCI-E x16 card down to fit in a board with no x16 slot, and I was actually surprised at how easy it really was. I was affraid at first, and though it would be hard, but really it wasn't.
really? Thats so cool. will it work on an Asus P5Q? and what about loses? Whats the advantage of x16 vs x1 when it comes to just Physx.
Posted on Reply
#35
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
lyndonrakistareally? Thats so cool. will it work on an Asus P5Q? and what about loses? Whats the advantage of x16 vs x1 when it comes to just Physx.
zero difference for physX
Posted on Reply
#36
bpgt64
Good Strategy to move G92 based chips imo...I wonder if this is the beginning in a shift of thought between ATI and Nvidia, in the realization that Intel is more of a problem than one another.
Posted on Reply
#37
TRIPTEX_CAN
kenkickrThe minimum I would recommend would be a 9600GS/GSO or 8800GS. Anything below is just uncivilized:D

Physxinfo.com is a great site to follow when it comes to physx supported games.
lol I havent heard of 90% of the titles on that list but there is a few winners.
Posted on Reply
#39
kenkickr
I just hope the Aliens: Colonial Marines doesn't meet the same fate that Aliens vs Predator had.
Posted on Reply
#40
VulkanBros
Musselscool.... now i can slap in my 8600GT and... uhh.. well actually i have no games that use PhysX, lol. might aquire metro 2033 just for this.
Can highly recommend Metro 2033 .. great visuals and a great game

Take a look at this nVidia PhysX games list...it´s soooooo looong...;)
www.nzone.com/object/nzone_physxgames_home.html
Posted on Reply
#41
ShRoOmAlIsTiC
this pretty awesome news for me actually. I just ordered a xfx g 240 last night to replace my gtx260 physx card. the gtx was just overkill and a power hog in my rig. now I wont have to hack shit and from what i read the 240 is a great physx card.
Posted on Reply
#42
TRIPTEX_CAN
Just talked to a coworker who has an extra 8800GT kicking around for me to test with. That should be sufficient right?
Posted on Reply
#43
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
Phxprovostohh good so nvidia kicks sand in my face and tells me no back when i actually had an nvidia gpu laying around that i wanted to use in tandem with my ati gpu...but now that i got rid of it im suddenly aloud to use it with my ati gpu? go f*ck yourself nvidia :shadedshu
Meh, better late then never. Stop whining.
Posted on Reply
#44
kid41212003
You probably need to install their newest beta driver too (257.15). It's the first driver that actually allow PhysX on a single GPU in setup with both GPUs are the same.
Posted on Reply
#45
kenkickr
TRIPTEX_MTLJust talked to a coworker who has an extra 8800GT kicking around for me to test with. That should be sufficient right?
Definitely.
Posted on Reply
#46
johnnyfiive
Awesome, I have a gtx 465 coming soon. Maybe now I can play Metro 2033 without wanting to scratch my eyeballs.
Posted on Reply
#47
filip007
PhysX is slowly opening for all, nVidia could do that and it will if there market share will continue to decline, some games like Mirror Edge can run PhysX as software but will slowdown any Radeon, i must say nVidia good luck.

AMD recently get a man from former Ageia so the future is not that bad after all.
Posted on Reply
#48
phanbuey
wow... they finally pulled their collective heads out of their a**es.
Posted on Reply
#49
kenkickr
johnnyfiiveAwesome, I have a gtx 465 coming soon. Maybe now I can play Metro 2033 without wanting to scratch my eyeballs.
that 465 will be more than enough to remedy some of the massive framerate drops in Metro. At first I couldn't stand it with my 5870 but even when I put in a 8800GS it improved greatly.
Posted on Reply
#50
Fourstaff
Start of a series of events that will put Nvidia into my good books, or calculated decision for publicity?
Posted on Reply
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