ok. I am sick of this showing up in every physics related thread, so now, here is a place for it. may the Mod's have mercy on my soul.
ATI and Nvidia have announced that they are going to have hardware accelerated physics via Havok's API. Both NV and ATI cards are going to allow SLI / Crossfire + a lower end card for physics. (not sure about NV SLI + 1, but ATI for sure...) ATI is claiming physics superiority over Nvidia, and I havnt heard about any reply. Ati is also claiming superiority over Ageia, but this is not a fair claim, as the Havok physics API does not support hardware accelerated physics in the same manner that Ageia's does.
According to others on this forum, wich I am assuming know what they are talking about, the GPU is incapable of sufficient communication back to the processor to do full blown interactive physics. I.E. a piece of shrapnel from an explosion could fly through a player without doing damage. I have also heard speculation that rubble from explosions will not make noise, if say it hits a steel barrel. (due to the lack of communication between the GPU=PPU and the sound API.)
for this discussion I am calling Havok, and eye candy physics "soft physics", and full blown interactive physics (like in cell factor) "hard physics". also I am only talking about dedicated hardware acceleration. No CPU / quad core / smoke & mirrors BS...
Although there is a solution Mr. Nasty is working on involving snake oil, and a tea cake running in SLI via uegea board that is showing some promis... (right now it sustains 85 FPS on cell factor and empties a beer fridge in a half hour)
Initially there was a bug causing FPS to drop in GRAW, but that error has been fixed, and shows a 2 FPS increase where there was previously a drop.
Some argue that all Ageia's PPU is doing right now is soft physics. To those people, that puts Ageia on the same playing field as Havok / ATI. For the most part this is currently true. Some others argue that it has farther potential. At this moment the best example of that potential is the Cell Factor Demo
Many argue that Ageia's PPU is not worth $300 at the moment for soft physics. Less argue that it will never be worth $300. And to the physics enthusiast it is worth $300 now -edit (to the few people seeking better gameplay interaction)
Ageia currently only has a PCI version. PCI-E versions are slotted for future production. HW accelerated havok only comes on PCI-E GPU's...
Maybe someone will find this useful. Please dont turn this into a flame thread.
ATI and Nvidia have announced that they are going to have hardware accelerated physics via Havok's API. Both NV and ATI cards are going to allow SLI / Crossfire + a lower end card for physics. (not sure about NV SLI + 1, but ATI for sure...) ATI is claiming physics superiority over Nvidia, and I havnt heard about any reply. Ati is also claiming superiority over Ageia, but this is not a fair claim, as the Havok physics API does not support hardware accelerated physics in the same manner that Ageia's does.
According to others on this forum, wich I am assuming know what they are talking about, the GPU is incapable of sufficient communication back to the processor to do full blown interactive physics. I.E. a piece of shrapnel from an explosion could fly through a player without doing damage. I have also heard speculation that rubble from explosions will not make noise, if say it hits a steel barrel. (due to the lack of communication between the GPU=PPU and the sound API.)
for this discussion I am calling Havok, and eye candy physics "soft physics", and full blown interactive physics (like in cell factor) "hard physics". also I am only talking about dedicated hardware acceleration. No CPU / quad core / smoke & mirrors BS...
Although there is a solution Mr. Nasty is working on involving snake oil, and a tea cake running in SLI via uegea board that is showing some promis... (right now it sustains 85 FPS on cell factor and empties a beer fridge in a half hour)
Initially there was a bug causing FPS to drop in GRAW, but that error has been fixed, and shows a 2 FPS increase where there was previously a drop.
Some argue that all Ageia's PPU is doing right now is soft physics. To those people, that puts Ageia on the same playing field as Havok / ATI. For the most part this is currently true. Some others argue that it has farther potential. At this moment the best example of that potential is the Cell Factor Demo
Many argue that Ageia's PPU is not worth $300 at the moment for soft physics. Less argue that it will never be worth $300. And to the physics enthusiast it is worth $300 now -edit (to the few people seeking better gameplay interaction)
Ageia currently only has a PCI version. PCI-E versions are slotted for future production. HW accelerated havok only comes on PCI-E GPU's...
Maybe someone will find this useful. Please dont turn this into a flame thread.