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Ageia Physics : Is it worth it??

carrot1401

carrot1401

carrot1401

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Right, I know Nvidia recently brought out Ageia and have stated they are going to make it available on their cards. My question is it worth actually buying a physics card? I assume that now Nvidia are in control, there may be a few more games coming out supporting Physx. As an ATi user is it worth grabbing one cheaply off the bay? Or should I wait for these new Nvidia cards (may buy new one over summer or keep 3870xt)?

Discuss.....:)
 
[ZiiP]carrot;11634294 said:
Talk about a discussion :rolleyes:

I'll take that as a no then. How are they going to integrate it using nvidia cards??
Click to expand...
What is there to discuss though?

As an owner of one (came with the laptop) I can honestly say there is no point to them, the physx maps for ut3 were lame as were the minor effects that you had to try to notice.
The small boost in fps you got from it is useless when the machine churns out 60fps anyway (vsync enabled)

They are adding the ability to do the same calculations that the physx chip does to the gpu. So you'll probably be able to dedicate or split a gpu to do some of these calculations, which will probably be done quicker on a gpu than on the current ppu.
 
Originally Posted Turophobic
"Just because you asked for a discussion, does not mean it will happen. Ageia is dead. RIP."
Ageia is not dead its never been more alive. We have more Ageia games due this year then last. But still I am with eveyone else unless you play a lot of PPU games now wait and see what the Ageia Geforce drivers do before buying a PPU.



lOriginally Posted Lay-z-boy
“the physx maps for ut3 were lame as were the minor effects that you had to try to notice.”
Why lie? Minor effects that are hard to notice!!!



EDIT:
Originally Posted Lay-z-boy "
The small boost in fps you got from it is useless when the machine churns out 60fps anyway (vsync enabled)"
According to benchmarks the minimum FPS doubled in the worst case it was 15fps without the PPU and 30fps+ with. The maximum was pretty much the same with or without the PPU.
 
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Pottsey said:
"Just because you asked for a discussion, does not mean it will happen. Ageia is dead. RIP."
Ageia is not dead its never been more alive. We have more Ageia games due this year then last.
Click to expand...

He means the PPU. It's dead. In fact it was dead before they even brought it out, but oh well.

I've said it before - it's a waste of time. I had one, tested it, realised it was worthless and it sat in my junk box for a while. I've since sold it. As said above, the FPS increase you get is not worth it in most instances. At the other end, the extra effects it gives make games look worse not better. I guess that is developers fault not Ageia, but that doesn't matter. It really is just a waste of energy.
 
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Excluding the first gen games like GRAW which did look worse I don’t agree, most of the effects look much better. I cannot think of any games outside the first gen which look worse. As for the FPS increase I found it very hit and miss. In GRAW 2 on extreme which looks much better over basic there was FPS drop, on normal there was a boost. Yet in UT the PPU bumped up my minimum FPS above 30 which was worth it.
 
Pottsey said:
lOriginally Posted Lay-z-boy
“the physx maps for ut3 were lame as were the minor effects that you had to try to notice.”
Why lie? Minor effects that are hard to notice!!!
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm lying am I? :rolleyes:

Sorry my first hand experience with a PPU is not to your expectations.

Pottsey said:
EDIT:
Originally Posted Lay-z-boy "
The small boost in fps you got from it is useless when the machine churns out 60fps anyway (vsync enabled)"
According to benchmarks the minimum FPS doubled in the worst case it was 15fps without the PPU and 30fps+ with. The maximum was pretty much the same with or without the PPU.
Click to expand...

Benchmarks?
What have they got to do with anything, I've already pointed out that with it enabled (or for that matter disabled) that I get my set limit of 60fps either way.
 
“Oh, I'm lying am I?”
Yes you are unless you talking about something different then I think you are, you where talking about the physx maps for ut3 are you not?
How is a massive tornado ripping buildings to bits among everything else it did like wind a minor effects that you had to try to notice. How can you call destructible walls, floors, walkways and rooftops minor effects that you had to try to notice?




“Benchmarks?
What have they got to do with anything,”
They prove what the PPU does and doesn’t do. Benchmarks show that in the worse case the minimum FPS drops below 30fps without a PPU and stays above 30fps with the PPU.

I find it very hard to believe your minimum FPS is 60fps unless you’re playing on low settings. Anything that boosts minimum FPS is good.
 
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