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How many stream processors does physx use?

B

Bogart

n00b
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
14
I'm considering a second nvidia card to dedicated to physx.

What I'm wondering is:
Is 32 fast stream processors better than 96 slower ones for physx?
Is it even worth doing a dedicated card for physx?

I'm guessing the amount of stream processors can vary based on the game, just wondering how many a typical game utilizes.

Thanks in advance.
 
For PhysX you should at least get a 8800GT and above. 9600GT might be sufficient but something faster is better. May I know what games do you plan to play the the dedicated PhysX card?
 
Wonder if you could do a sli+physix combo.. and if you did you have a sli-phy would you need to up the phy card above a 9600gt?
 
I wouldn't bother getting two cards.
Just a single fast card like a 9800GTX or better is perfectly capable of handling any PhysX game out today and in the near future.

As for stream processors... PhysX uses whatever is required. It's all scheduled dynamically by the driver and the hardware itself, just like other types of shaders.

Basically if you use a dedicated PhysX card... the PhysX performance will be similar to the graphics performance... so whichever card is faster in graphics will generally be faster in PhysX aswell.
The actual speed depends on more than just the number of stream processors... The clockspeed, memory interface and overall architecture also play a role (eg, G92-based cards are faster than G80-based cards with the same number of stream processors, because the G92 has a more efficient architecture).
 
Have i understood correctly, you can for example mount in gtx280 for graphics and the 9800GTX for physics only, and 9800GTX wont be bottlenecking gtx280..no?
 
Thanks everyone for the info. Probably stick with the single card I have for now, we'll see what the future brings.
 
DarkVater said:
Have i understood correctly, you can for example mount in gtx280 for graphics and the 9800GTX for physics only, and 9800GTX wont be bottlenecking gtx280..no?
Click to expand...

Yes, currently a 9800GTX is much faster than what any PhysX application requires, and will be for quite a while, no doubt.
 
That will be a silly question..but i have to ask. Can i put 4850X2 for graphics and 9800GTX for physics. Jus don't lol me all over the place. Simple no/yes pls. :D

I just thought for a moment and answer is no, because Catalyst Drivers has no physX...
 
DarkVater said:
That will be a silly question..but i have to ask. Can i put 4850X2 for graphics and 9800GTX for physics. Jus don't lol me all over the place. Simple no/yes pls. :D

I just thought for a moment and answer is no, because Catalyst Drivers has no physX...
Click to expand...

I believe this works in XP, but not in Vista.
The problem with Vista is that it assumes there is only one display driver.
With XP you can install and use both Catalyst and nVidia drivers at the same time, and use PhysX.
In Windows 7 it should be possible again.

But if you already have a 4850X2 and want PhysX, then it's probably a better solution to just sell the card and buy a single nVidia card to do both graphics and PhysX.

If you don't have a 4850X2 yet, then why bother with ATi at all? :)
 
DarkVater said:
That will be a silly question..but i have to ask. Can i put 4850X2 for graphics and 9800GTX for physics. Jus don't lol me all over the place. Simple no/yes pls. :D

I just thought for a moment and answer is no, because Catalyst Drivers has no physX...
Click to expand...

I don't think you can install the Nvidia physX drivers separately from the graphics drivers, so the answer is no.
 
I guess i have to stick with Nvidia. I will get gtx 280 after gtx 285 release, and use my current 8800 gtx as physics processing unit, hmmm i will need a bit better PSU i presume...is 800W enough for both of them?
 
DarkVater said:
I guess i have to stick with Nvidia. I will get gtx 280 after gtx 285 release, and use my current 8800 gtx as physics processing unit, hmmm i will need a bit better PSU i presume...is 800W enough for both of them?
Click to expand...

should be plenty.
 
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