ATI and Physx in win7

uv · 5 Mar 2009 at 13:01

Howdy

*edit*
IT WORKS

My current setup has a 4870 as the main graphics, and a 9500GT in as a secondary, under the Windows 7 Beta.
Both cards are recognised correctly, and I can enable hardware Physx - but only when the nvidia enabled monitor is set as the main, and the 4870 set as secondary. Obviously, I'd rather have the 4870 doing the grunt of the GPU work

There's a handful of people out there that have managed to run an ATI primary with the nVidia secondary doing h/w Physx, but I'm almost pulling my hair out trying to get it to work!

Have some links:

http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/452154-guide-how-enable-physx-nvidia-card.html
http://forums.slizone.com/index.php?showtopic=33521
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=2277303
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=217129

Has anyone else on here tried this? Some colaboration might get us nearer to some mixed-gpu heaven

EvilOne · 5 Mar 2009 at 13:03

I would be more intrested getting the Physx to work on the 4870 itself, was a site not to long ago bosting about doing just that lol.

londonbairn · 5 Mar 2009 at 13:33

Is it worth the pain at the moment? There's nothing really show stopping to need PhysX TBH.

uv · 5 Mar 2009 at 13:48

rafster said:
There's nothing really show stopping to need PhysX TBH.

Not really, but if you've a spare card lying around, and enjoy tinkering as much as I do, it's worth the pain

formby · 5 Mar 2009 at 18:32

Yes that liar Renagade

uv · 5 Mar 2009 at 19:25

I managed to get it working

updated both ATI and nVidia drivers to the latest, plugged the vga out from my 9500gt into the vga on my monitor so it thinks a monitor is attached, used the nvPhysxTweaker to switch physx to GPU (as the nvidia CP doesn't work - driver mismatch), and bob's your bloomin' uncle!

formby · 5 Mar 2009 at 19:31

nice work

Sash · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:12

To carry this on from the previous thread in cases.

@uvmain: So is there any performance hit with your normal gaming? And does it work in Vista?

LoadsaMoney · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:16

Sash said:
To carry this on from the previous thread in cases.

@uvmain: So is there any performance hit with your normal gaming? And does it work in Vista?

No wont work in Vista, only XP and Win 7, as Vista can't have Nvidia and ATi cards/drivers running together.

Sash · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:23

Is Windows 7 still available for download? I have tried it already but uninstalled again lol

LoadsaMoney · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:30

Sash said:
Is Windows 7 still available for download? I have tried it already but uninstalled again lol

Not from Microsoft, have to get it via other means now.

uv · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:30

You can get it from Torrent sites. I assume it's legal to do so, as it was a public beta, with only a handful of serials between the thousands of users.

I'd change your sig.. the mods frown upon such things

As for performance hit.. how do you mean? Do you mean due to running both cards, or due to the beta OS? If anything, Windows7 has better framerates than Vista

Sash · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:44

uvmain said:
You can get it from Torrent sites. I assume it's legal to do so, as it was a public beta, with only a handful of serials between the thousands of users.

I'd change your sig.. the mods frown upon such things

As for performance hit.. how do you mean? Do you mean due to running both cards, or due to the beta OS? If anything, Windows7 has better framerates than Vista

Well, I am not spamming to get the postcount but fair point lol

I meant a performance hit from having both running. Is it the 4870 doing all the work? How do you make sure its not the nvidia card trying to do all the work? Or am I just being dim and its just simple.

SlyReaper · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:47

formby said:
nice work

Off topic, but I read your sig in my head in Jeremy Clarkson's voice. Was that intentional?

kylew · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:50

Sash said:
Well, I am not spamming to get the postcount but fair point lol

I meant a performance hit from having both running. Is it the 4870 doing all the work? How do you make sure its not the nvidia card trying to do all the work? Or am I just being dim and its just simple.

Because they won't share the 3D rendering load, it will be one or the other, plus you'd have your monitor connected to the 4870.

It's essentially like having a PPU except it's got additional functionality in the form of being able to run more screens while not playing games.

I'm actually considering trying it soon if I can get my hands on a cheap 9600 or something.

uv · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:52

It's definitely the 4870 doing all the work.. there's no way in hell a 9500GT would get the 3dmark Vantage score I get, or the fps I get. I play at 1920x1200, so I'd notice the slowdown

Both cards are plugged into my monitor, I just have an extended display, with the 4870 set to primary. Unfortunately, it does mean I can lose my mouse on the right-hand screen, which isn't actually there

*edit*
darn photobucket resizing

FrenchTart · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:56

Did that whole "clone mode" thing not work then uv?

uv · 24 Mar 2009 at 15:59

nope :/

hopefully as win7 matures, and nvidia release better drivers, it will.

nVidia are planning on releasing drivers that enable 'hybrid physx', which should hopefully make the whole process much easier.

FrenchTart · 24 Mar 2009 at 16:03

El sucko :/

As long as you don't start losing windows to the extra monitor then I guess it's not a major problem.

Sash · 24 Mar 2009 at 16:05

I think I get what you mean now. As long as you run the game on "Display 1" the 4870 does the rendering?