GTX480 + 9800GT

[texuspete00]

I read when the GTX480 was coming out, that it would be better at "sharing" responsibilities with PhysX and graphics. I bought a used 9800GT for PhysX, I'm hoping it will help my 480. It seems GPUs still prefer to do the one thing. I'm hoping the 9800GT is fast enough, to kill the stutters I get running both on a 480.

I use to run GTX280's in SLI, but for games like Batman, I would let one do the PhysX and the other do graphics. One GTX280 could already do batman at 1920 *1080 sans PhysX, and it ran better even if a 280 was major overkill for the PhysX. So even if I HAD a gpu as powerful as 280's in SLI (GTX480 is kinda close maybe), it would benefit to keep them separate. I hope the 9800GT is up to the task, so it won't introduce some bottleneck where the PhysX just isn't getting done.

 

[InvisiBill]

Check out shaolin95's Quick GTX 480 vs GTS 250 phsyx test. The dedicated GTS250 wasn't that much faster than a single GTX480 on Cryostasis (4fps min, 12fps avg). A 9800GT has fewer, slower shaders than a GTS250, so it will give lower performance. I'm guessing that you'll see at most single-digit fps improvements with the 9800GT over just the GTX480.

If I were to specifically buy a dedicated PhysX card to go with a GTX480, I personally wouldn't go lower than a GTX260. I'm currently using a 9800GT with my HD5870, simply because it was my old card that I already had.

 

[Matrices]

I don't think Cryostasis accurately reflects what happens in Mafia 2 and Arkham. In both games, performance chokes if you render and run Physx on the same card, at least in my experience.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

I'm currently using a 9800GT with my HD5870, simply because it was my old card that I already had.

How are you able to do this? I thought the Nvidia drivers blocked PhysX use when a ATI/AMD board was installed?

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Forgive my PhysX ignorance btw.

How does this work anyway when you have a dedicated physX board.

the graphics board renders graphics at - as an example 40fps and the physx board can only render physx at 30fps, does this limit the whole system to 30fps, or are only the physics choppy?

 

[vjcsmoke]

Forgive my PhysX ignorance btw.

How does this work anyway when you have a dedicated physX board.

the graphics board renders graphics at - as an example 40fps and the physx board can only render physx at 30fps, does this limit the whole system to 30fps, or are only the physics choppy?

the PhysX card doesn't render ANYTHING. It only makes Physx calculations. Like where should X, Y, and Z particles fly after they are collide into stuff. The main GPU does all the renderings but according to directions calculated in PhysX. Example, the 4890 is rendering batman AA, but the 9800 GT is telling the 4890, that when batman punches the goon, he should be sent flying 30 degrees to the right and 10 feet back, etc. I'm oversimplying for the sake of explanation here.

As to OP - yeah for now the 9800GT as a physx card is a lot better than nothing. The problem right now is that PhysX is written on terribly gimped code. Once the code becomes more robust, then maybe it won't cripple the performance of the rendering card as well. But for now the dedicated card is a big help even if it's not very strong.

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/19216

The problem is that the very x87 code and lack of multithreading that gimps physX for cpus also gimps its efficiency on gpus although gpus are still better at running the gimpy code than cpus by a longshot.

 

[Gorankar]

How are you able to do this? I thought the Nvidia drivers blocked PhysX use when a ATI/AMD board was installed?

Hacked drivers. It works fine, but the fix and site that hosts it is blacklisted here due to some virus concerns that turned out to be unfounded.

 

[Bootleg Usher]

One would think that a GTX 480 would be strong enough to handle its own physX.

 

[djbess]

I don't think the gain out weighs the power wasted form the secondary card.

 

[Gorankar]

I don't think the gain out weighs the power wasted form the secondary card.

It's all a matter of personal desire. Some people love PhysX and are willing to put up with a dedicated cards extra power draw and heat, others like yourself seem to not be willing to except the trade offs.

I was running a 9800GTX+ as a dedicated PhysX card with a 5870. It was really just to see what all the hub bub was about. It worked fine in the few games I had that used it, and in some of the games, the difference was certainly noticeable. Then Nv locked me out because I used an AMD card as well. After the Arkam Asylum AA B.S., and the Core2 SLI chipset B.S., then followed up with the Nv blocking their own hardware if AMD hardware was also present B.S., I decided Nv could go be the bitch in a prison rape for all I cared.