AGEIA PhysX Processor Technology Preview

[jacuzz1]

Can't wait to see how these cards will overclock. OC them so much you see a whole new kind of physics. Beyond 2d, beyond 3d, 4D PHYSICS WITH THE NEW BFG PHYSX PPU OC edition. Leave your Newtonian physics behind. Quantum shmantum. Frag the bad guy from Point A to Point B without having your bullets travel in the distance between! If Einstein were alive, he'd be gaming with a PHYSX PPU. Mass times acceleration = FRAG. Let's get physical!


Btw, in the demo, I dunno about a single grenade causing that little damage and that much damage to a vehicle. Seriously, one grenade TORE that truck apart. Unless a PPU also stands for Projectile Power Up....

A sinagle grenade composed of the correct explosive could do that much damage and more.

 

[jcll2002]

better to spend the money on another card for sli or a ppu?

 

[stryder2720]

better to spend the money on another card for sli or a ppu?

I say PPU because you must always have the coolest toys on the block.

 

[kuyaglen]

Terrain deformation has nothing to do with physics.

But now with the PhysX card doing it in software wont bog down your game.

 

[kuyaglen]

I noticed it getting choppy, I don't think it was the video, it looks like the game was getting a bit choppy there.

Someone else download it and watch it and tell me if i'm crazy.

I saw the "choppyness" too. Cant really say if it was caused by not enough cpu/ppu/gpu power but it could verywell also be to network lag, or all 4. But that flame thrower, though it looked nice, it didn't look like it was discharging as a flamethrower would. More like water. And that would sorta bug me as much as shimmering bugs others.

that is indeed cool but will developers take the time to acutually make a game like that.... i think not...our grandkids will be playing a game like you described and we'll be too old to play

Well the door doesn't have to be a plane of rigid softbodies, it could be just 1 mesh and just add the textures that would be transparent to represent the bullet holes, so that would lead a graphic tech layman like me to assume that it can be done using already established shader model techniques.

But as for game development, I think that destructable terrain would take a lot of time to do things like that. Especially on a BF2 type of game.

 

[Jason711]

i dont understand why kyle talks about alpha blending with the physx card..

doesnt the gpu take care of that?

 

[InorganicMatter]

i dont understand why kyle talks about alpha blending with the physx card..

doesnt the gpu take care of that?

My thoughts too, what does Alpha Blending have to do with the PhysX?

 

[jebo_4jc]

I think people are forgetting something. The PhysX physics *engine* (API) will run in "software" mode just like the Havok engine does now in HL2 or UT2k4. Also, as I've been reading some of the articles around the web the past couple days Ageia says the PhysX API is "highly threaded." Which means, to me, that dual core CPUs will have a definite advantage over single core CPUs. I think Ageia is doing good things for gaming, even if the PPU is a failure.

 

[Sable]

How can the PPU be a failure, it wasn't even available to buy until yesterday?

I reckon this is what he actually means.

"I think Ageia is doing good things for gaming even if, in the future, the PPU is a failure."

 

[bildad]

Actually I'm not so sure I'm looking forward to this device. Once we all get them we'll want developers to add all these new physics tricks which will take time and money. I'm afraid we're going to end up with games costing a ridiculous amount or games that are ridiculously short as a result.

 

[quadnad]

Actually I'm not so sure I'm looking forward to this device. Once we all get them we'll want developers to add all these new physics tricks which will take time and money. I'm afraid we're going to end up with games costing a ridiculous amount or games that are ridiculously short as a result.

well hopefully someone will use the physics as a way to forward the immersion in a game, and not as a gimmick. I'm not paying $250 for a gimmick.

 

[Gmeister]

The GRAW demo in full screen glory: http://physx.ageia.com/sbs_graw.swf

That looks awesome. I'm definitely thinking about buying one.

 

[bazylik]

better to spend the money on another card for sli or a ppu?

Exactly what I ponder and I come to conclusion that Ageia's solution is way way better. Even if Havok FX solution is as good as PhysX chip you still need a setup in SLI to get the full advantage, and to take the fullest adv. you'll need top of the line GPUs... and with PhysX chip you'll need one top of the line GPU (if you want) and one PhysX card. Now you do the math.

 

[koopaGG]

Exactly what I ponder and I come to conclusion that Ageia's solution is way way better. Even if Havok FX solution is as good as PhysX chip you still need a setup in SLI to get the full advantage, and to take the fullest adv. you'll need top of the line GPUs... and with PhysX chip you'll need one top of the line GPU (if you want) and one PhysX card. Now you do the math.

Most people that would consider buying one of these right away more then likely already has a high end video card (7800 GTX/ 7900 GT) and the price of these would not cost too much more then having a PhysX chip.

 

[gerbiaNem]

I'm wondering if the PPU will be like graphics - where you upgrade it every 6 months, or if it will be a one-time purchase. I mean, developers are creating better and better graphics, but it's not like they can continue to increase the number of objects. Computer graphics may never reach true realism due to the depth of detail required, but physics are only so complicated. Since it's all math, I can easily see Ageia making a PhysX processor that 100% perfectly imitates real life. What then?

Nothing coming in the next few years will completely mimic real life. You would have to do all the atom and sub-atomic particle interactions. You will probably come damn close, but not exactly. If you throw a bottle of vinegar into a can of baking soda.. what will happen? Physics will eventually get to this point...

I don't see the point of wasting one perfectly good $500 graphics card to do physics when you can buy a $250 ppu that will do the same thing, and leave your graphics power the same.

 

[jebo_4jc]

I don't see the point of wasting one perfectly good $500 graphics card to do physics when you can buy a $250 ppu that will do the same thing, and leave your graphics power the same.

QFT

 

[1c3d0g]

QFT

Well fucking said.

 

[PGHammer]

There's only 1 at this point, but I'm sure other versions will follow in time. ASUS apparently makes cards for OEMs (Dell, Alienware) and BFG will make the retail cards that we can buy.

Asus, like BFG, will also retail the cards. They will likely resell them the same way they do their existing products (motherboards, video cards, etc.).