review of Ageia PhysX physics accelerator chip

Scruff

First review (i've seen) of the [url="http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/04/review_ageia_physx_board/"[/url]Ageia PhysX physics accelerator chip[/url]

basically says its not worth it at the moment until games based on the Unreal 3.0 engine or Cell Factor that really use it come out.

DonkeyStyle \o/

That link is f00ked... should be http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/04/review_ageia_physx_board/

awhir

to lazy to read.

when is unreal07 out.

Khannie

UT2007 should be out in the autumn afaik. Epic are usually not too bad with sticking to release dates.

Edit: I, for one, will be buying one of these lads if it turns out to be a cheap way to improve performance (a la graphics card) when UT2007 comes out.

kaimera

Does it make GRAW run better given it install teh physics card drivers anyway?

projectmayhem

Khannie wrote:

Edit: I, for one, will be buying one of these lads if it turns out to be a cheap way to improve performance (a la graphics card) when UT2007 comes out.

€200 apparently. not worth it for a simple physics card IMO

kaimera wrote:

Does it make GRAW run better given it install teh physics card drivers anyway?

some people have said it lowers the FPS of GRAW... if you're running a slightly-less-impressive gfx card then that could hurt

steviec

Personally I'd much rather pay 200 euro for more detailed physics than for shinier graphics. Still not sure how much it'll be supported though because different physics can directly impact gameplay which is something you can't really have between different hardware setups. And if they just use the card for things that don't effect gameplay then what's the point.

projectmayhem

steviec wrote:

Personally I'd much rather pay 200 euro for more detailed physics than for shinier graphics. Still not sure how much it'll be supported though because different physics can directly impact gameplay which is something you can't really have between different hardware setups. And if they just use the card for things that don't effect gameplay then what's the point.

it'll probably get some decent support because ageia have alligned themselves with sony and stuck the card in the ps3 (or so i believe). the problem is it doesn't affect graphics so much as it affects FPS rates. if better physics means i have to drop to a horrible looking level of frames then i'd prefer to sacrifice the physics and let my athlon do all the work alone.

if, come UT2007, there's some positive reports, then i'll definitely invest. it helps that it's PCI, and not PCI-e

astrofool

the chip is NOT in the PS3, the physics engine however is going to be used in PS3 games, as it will be used in xbox360 games and future PC games. For instance, GRAW uses the Ageia physics engine whether the card is installed or not, it just runs at lower settings without.

The problem with the tests so far is that they can't compare apples to apples, and in nearly every case, the FPS stayed within the playable level anyway (dropping only for a split second).

I'm really waiting for it to go to PCI-E before splashing out.

stevenmu

The reason for the FPS drop in GRAW is because of how AGEIA is implemented in the game. The majority of in game physics is handled on the CPU with the Havok engine, and this remains the case even with a PPU installed. The only difference with the PPU installed seems to be that there is a lot of extra debris in explosions. Naturally all this extra debris takes longer to render leading to reduced frame rates. It isn't just a simple case of using Ageia gives less frame rates, having more objects and detail to render always leads to reduced frame rates, it doesn't matter iff those extra objects come from having an Ageia card or just from turning up in game options.

astrofool

AFAIK, Havok is not used by GRAW at all, where did you get that info from?

[edit]PhysX is used in the 360 version, while the PC version uses havok, with a PhysX layer on top when the PPU is present[/edit]

projectmayhem

astrofool wrote:

I'm really waiting for it to go to PCI-E before splashing out.

on an ageia interview i read a few days ago they said the card wont be on PCI-e because that runs too quickly for the PPU, so they opted for PCI instead... i don't think they're too keen on PCI-e right now