NVIDIA to Unveil "SLI Physics"

[HAVOC]

Article Here

It seems that NVIDIA is now jumping onboard the "Physics" off-loading bandwagon. They have developed special drivers and software that will enable SLI systems to become "SLI Physics" systems.

The idea is simple. Instead of having two GPU's responsible for displaying graphics, limit it back to one and use the other to off-load physics to it. So now it seems that Ageia may have another huge obstacle in it's way. NVIDIA claims they have more then 6 Million SLI systems sold and with a few software updates those users can convert to "SLI Physics".

It all sounds well and good to me, but it will be interesting to see which processors pack the best punch, Ageia's or NVIDIA's.

What does everyone think?

 

[FghtinIrshNvrDi]

I think Ageia will be more popular with the people who know what they're doing. They didn't buy SLI to start, so plopping in a card specifically for that, and transferable to a new computer without having to drag another card with it will be more appealing. Just like the All in Wonder cards vs. a good video card plus a tv tuner.

Ryan

 

[HAVOC]

Ageia will be more popular with those that don't have SLI based systems for sure. It will be much cheaper to add a PPU card to a current system, then buying an SLI mobo & second NVIDIA card.

But, those that already have an SLI board and (2) SLI Cards can by-pass the need for adding an additonal PCI card, "PPU".

I think the real test will be proven with UNREAL2k7 and other Physics demos that will be surely released in due time.

Once you have GPU's that put out 60+ FPS at highest settings, you've pretty much got all the eye candy you need. But, physics are still really lacking. If NVIDIA pulls this of nicely, I think it would actually Validate SLI.

 

[Nubius]

no........just no. No way do I want to have to throw down money for a SLI board and an extra video card just for the physics aspect. Freakin SLI just die already.

Tossing in the extra PPU would be a much better way to go.

 

[HAVOC]

no........just no. No way do I want to have to throw down money for a SLI board and an extra video card just for the physics aspect. Freakin SLI just die already.
Tossing in the extra PPU would be a much better way to go.

Nubius revolts against SLI: News at 11

 

[MrZucchiniHead]

Freakin SLI just die already.

lol it's not dieing, it's getting stronger with quad SLI.

People with too much money and want the best possible thing all the time=SLI growing in strenght

 

[Nubius]

lol it's not dieing, it's getting stronger with quad SLI.

I'm not saying it's currently dying, I'm saying it NEEDS to die. And I wouldn't consider their 'quad SLI' making it stronger. More of an attempt to keep it going and make it seem like it's worth it. After all, if 4 cards seems ridiculous to you, it'll just make 2 cards seem less ridiculous

 

[HAVOC]

Well, nubius, I don't know if this is going to burn your toast or not, but the lastest issue of MAXIMUM PC, has an article about motherboards that are current in production to support "GPU" sockets. They will be positioned next to the "CPU" socket and they will use conventional methods of cooling.

You might have seen it, what do you think?

 

[gaara]

An interesting concept to say the least but I can say it's full of flaws

First of all, I don't think the PPU developed by Ageia is going to be very powerful based on transitor count compared to GPUs...unlike Ageia the software developers are the ones responsible for writing the physics instruction sets for the PPU rather than with ATI/nvidia who write the drivers for the game therefore one can assume the code is going to lean towards to PhysX architecture

Besides that...the whole purpose of SLI is to pay double for video cards and supposedly double your video output, but that's not the case if you dedicate one card to physics processes. As we all know you need identical GPUs to run SLI so if you're graphics start lagging you'll either need to re-enable SLI or even worse buy another TWO more powerful more expensive cards in which you won't even see the full rendering potential of both and at which point you just have yet another expensive piece of hardware to upgrade every few years

This would be more feasible with crossfire considering you can mix and match different GPUs of different speeds in that configuration, but it's still a crappy idea

 

[HAVOC]

So gaara, we know you're traveling on nubius's anti SLI chariot, but are you "Pro-Ageia"? What is the best solution for games to have better physics?

Currently, playing Garry's Mod with an X800XTPE, I can't even explode 10 or more barrels at the same time without the FPS lagging to about 3 or 4 FPS.