Performance/Comaptabality

[LeopoldStotch]

I have done some research and have not been able to determine compatabality/performance for the following system. I have a Gateway FX510XT, Pentium 965 Extreme Ed.(3.73GHz,1066MHz FSB,2x2M cache,HT), on an Intel Motherboard w/975X 10/10/1000 LAN, with 4096MB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM (4-1024MB modules, 1000GB (1TB) 7200RPM SATA II w/Raid 0 (2-500GB HDD) w/NCQ, 700-Watt Power Supply, running ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire Ed. 512MB, Dual DVI, VGA Support with an ATI Radeon X1900 XT and an ATI Theater 550 Pro TV Tuner. My question is will an Ageia PhysX Card be compatable with this system and if so what would the performance expectations be? Does anyone know or can anyone refer me to a site that can answer this question? Thanks.

 

[Brtnboarder495]

It will barely boost system performance, it's meant to graphicaly enhance certain physical events in certain games, not really boost performance.

You will know if it's compatible with your motherboard, if your motherboard has an open, non-used, free slot in which the card you desire requires.

 

[LeopoldStotch]

I was interested in what kind of boost in graphics I could expect. I guess I was not very clear in my post. Thank you for your reply. It may not be worth the price to put one in then I take it?

 

[AnthraX]

It's crappy. Take a look at this review: http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/06/19/can_ageia/

 

[Pepsiboy700]

It seems some things like explosions and crashes or anything that breaks or blows up with look better or sometimes look like crap but it will definatly lower fps a noticable amount it seems.

 

[LeopoldStotch]

The article cited doesn't say the Ageia card "crappy" but doesn't rave about it either. As for lowering fps, that cannot be all that bad, it should free up graphics card resources I would assume. Thanks for all the feedback. I appreciate the responses.

 

[AnthraX]

What we had all assumed about the PhysX card is untrue. It really is a POS. I recommend you do a search on Havok FX. I don't know all that much about it, except it's software based, not hardware. You will need hardware to run it, like the PhysX card, but instead of their proprietary card, you get a second video card (or third if you have SLI/X-fire) and use the spare card as the physics card. It runs on all SM3.0 cards. It can end up saving you a lot of extra money. Such as buying at 7600GT for about $185 and using Havok FX, rather than $300 for PhysX.

 

[LeopoldStotch]

Good info. I do recall something on Ageia's website about their having discussions with Havok regarding DirectX 10. Your solution sounds interesting - getting basically the same result at a much lower cost. Besides running x-fire with a third ati card with Havok FX software sounds like fewer compatibility questions. This is intriguing. Thanks.