Bart
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Registered: 19th Aug 02
Location: Midsomer Norton, Bristol Avon
User status: Offline
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I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts/opinions on these?
there is one for sale on Overclockers [url=http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_PhysX_Accelerators_594.html[/url]
In a summary takes the load off your CPU and memory. Supposedly can act better than a graphics card if you dont have a top of the range graphics card.
quote:
Take your gaming rig into the future of PC gaming with BFG Tech physics accelerator cards powered by the AGEIA™ PhysX™ processor. Experience a new dimension in gaming physics performance. Things don’t just look real; they act real and feel real. Massively destructible buildings and landscapes; explosions that cause collateral damage; lifelike characters with spectacular new weapons; realistic smoke, fog and oozing fluids are all now possible with the AGEIA™ PhysX™ processor!* Physics is all about how objects in your game move and react. It’s not just how things look, but how they behave. In many of today’s games, objects just don’t seem to act the way you’d want or expect. Most of the action is limited to pre-scripted or canned animations. Even the most powerful weapons leave little more than a charred smudge on the thinnest of walls; and every opponent you take out falls in a strangely familiar way. Serious gamers are left with a fine game, but one with a missing sense of realism to make the experience truly immersive. Until now, only limited software physics has been integrated in games. That means physics computation has been handled by the general purpose CPU which is already burdened with the ever increasing demands of today’s advanced games including game logic and AI. Meanwhile, the highly specialized graphics processor is fully engaged with handling the rendering requirements of cinematic visuals at interactive framerates. As a result, physics in games has been limited to a few objects in a scene, one-off “effects” or visual trickery that just mimics real physics. Now for the first time, the AGEIA PhysX Processor delivers the computing horsepower necessary to enable true, advanced physics in games. Delivering advanced physics is an extremely compute-intensive undertaking, based on a unique set of physics algorithms, requiring tremendous amounts of mathematical and logical calculations with massive memory bandwidth. Simply put, it requires a highly specialized processor to deliver rich immersive environments with features such as:
- Explosions that cause dust and collateral debris
- Characters with complex, jointed geometries for more life-like motion and interaction
- Spectacular new weapons with unpredictable effects
- Cloth that drapes and tears the way you expect it to
- Lush foliage that sways naturally when brushed against
- Dense smoke & fog that billow around objects in motion
- Processor: AGEIA PhysX
- Memory Interface: 128-bit GDDR3
- Memory Capacity: 128MB
- Peak Instruction Bandwidth: 20 Billion/sec
- Sphere-Sphere Collisions: 530 Million/sec max
- Convex-Convex (Complex Collisions): 533,000/sec max
- Software Included: BFG PhysX Drivers, BFG PhysX Demo DVD
- LIFETIME Manufacturer Warranty (Contact BFG representative on 001 866 234 3499 for warranty services)
- 24/7 Email Manufacturer Support (http://www.bfgtech.com/tech_redux.html)
£200
is it worth it?
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Dan B
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Registered: 25th Feb 01
User status: Offline
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Not many games actually use the technology properly yet, though, if any:
http://physx.ageia.com/titles.html
It does look absolutely amazing, though, look at the real-time footage on the above page...
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
User status: Offline
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Its worth it for processing physics. You'll still need a top of the line graphics card for processing graphics.
Its not worth it until its got more support.
That demo doesn't show me its worth 200 quid, yes the explosions look a little bit more realistic but it'll have to do something fancier than that.
[Edited on 05-05-2006 by John]
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
User status: Offline
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quote:
Unfortunately, the launch support is pretty weak, and since the whole point of the tech is the gaming joy that it enables, there doesn't seem much point to get a card at this point. Just "Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter" is available with PhysX at launch, and the effects that are turned on in the game with the PhysX card enabled are not only not fully realized, but cause a decent hit to frame rates. Games built from the ground up to use the PhysX card, such as the forthcoming "Cell Factor" which claims to be the the first title to require the card, look quite good and frankly do things with physics that just aren't possible with the traditional CPU / GPU combo. With that said, major titles built in such a way around the PhysX hardware will be few and far between for a while, giving few reasons to spring for the $300 card until the kinks are worked out and the special effects it enables are more than tacked on -- if flashy -- extras
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