Nvidia Disables PhysX Support on Vendor Mixed GPU Setups – Driver Update 340.52 Onwards

[mmj_uk]

This what needs testing, does disabling the APU.s GPU portion allow Nvidia GPU accelerated PhysX.

I'm sure it will, NVidia are just trying block all of the 290X AMD owners who buy a low end NVidia GPU as a Physx add-in card.

Like I said you wouldn't want to disable the APU as HSA enabled programs wouldn't be able to function with it. You might also want to use it for multiple displays.

There are many reasons to leave the APU GPU enabled and installed in a system with a dedicated card.

People will just have to choose one or the other in the future, it would be better if NVidia could make it so that hardware Physx only works if an NVidia GPU is being used as primary renderer but that might be a lot more difficult or easily hackable. Or maybe that is how it works? we don't exactly have much information to go by.

According to most AMD owners on this forum Physx is rubbish anyway, plus AMD have their 'open physics' thing in development that was supposed to rival Physx.. or was that just more lip service to their users?

 

[Final8y]

It's disabled if you have an AMD GPU present, regardless. I have a hybrid system and it doesn't work.

This is what I was worried about.

My inquiry was if I have an iGPU will that affect PhysX on my Nvidia dGPU. From what I'm seeing if you have ANY Radeon drivers on your system weather it's iGPU or dGPU, PhysX is disabled. From what I can see it's working fine on my Intel iGPU+Nvidia dGPU solutions but not iGPU Radeon + dGPU Nvidia. If this was a QA or technical problem it wouldn't work on either AMD or Intel iGPU but it seems to work on Intel ONLY. I don't know about older drivers but this seems to happen with the newest drivers right now.
PhysX isn't going to sway my decision in being a new card but I'm really started to get disappointed with both companies.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2393696&page=2

 

[Gregster]

I personally love the effects of PhysX. Batmans gloves look awesome when they are electrified and the smoke which comes off them looks good. Borderlands 2 is stunning and AC4 is very good. I feel it is harsh to block out hybrid users but it is very much tit for tat with both of them.

 

[Final8y]

I personally love the effects of PhysX. Batmans gloves look awesome when they are electrified and the smoke which comes off them looks good. Borderlands 2 is stunning and AC4 is very good. I feel it is harsh to block out hybrid users but it is very much tit for tat with both of them.

So what specifically does AMD block on AMD GPUs when a NV GPU is in the same system, if its tit for tat.

 

[Gregster]

So what specifically does AMD block on AMD GPUs when a NV GPU is in the same system, if its tit for tat.

I should have been clearer and was talking about AMD being offered/not offered PhysX way back when nVidia bought it from Ageia. AMD "allegedly" wasn't interested (as nVidia are not interested in Mantle) and nVidia have dug their heels in and blocked AMD (which i feel is harsh). The end users lose out on the tit for tat that is going on between the hierarchy.

Anyways, I am certainly not getting involved with that debate, as it has been done to death.

 

[oldestgregg]

I know I may be courting flame throwers here but why would it matter? APU's are a budget option, they combine a weak CPU with a weak GPU, who the hell thinks to themselves "well I don't really want to spend any money on a decent CPU or GPU, but I must have an add in PhysX card!".

If a person has an APU and an Nvidia GPU because they decided they needed more GPU grunt than the APU could provide then common sense is to disable the redundant iGPU anyway so the PhysX lock wouldn't even matter.




The Metro and Borderlands series are night and day better with PhysX, to the point I choose to play those on my GTX780 rig instead of my CF R290 rig.

Plus Batman! Physx was actually the deciding factor of me going back to Nvidia as when its used right it looks really good.

 

[Confused Stu]

Batman is the only reason I'm interest in PhysX - the effects aren't game changing in any way, but they're so nice that playing without them once you've tried them really does take some of the sparkle out of the game. To me, it's like replaying a game on "Low" default graphics where you've gotten used to playing on "Ultra".

MMJ_UK, I don't really understand your point, could you please clarify? This isn't about stopping people running an expensive AMD card and buying a cheap Nvidia card for PhysX (they did that 5 years ago by blocking this setup in their drivers), this is about stopping an Nvidia card working fully if it detects any AMD drivers in your system.

Your last post says you think Nvidia are trying to penalise people who've spent money on Nvidia products (remember you can't run modern GPU PhysX without buying an Nvidia GPU) if they've spent money with their competitor? And you're saying this is a perfectly acceptable business practice? To me, this genuinely feels like receiving a letter from Porsche to say that they've noticed your wife owns a Ford, so as such they're now removing the expensive alloy wheels from the Porsche you bought last year until such time as she gets rid of the Ford, then you can have them back.

 

[tommybhoy]

So what specifically does AMD block on AMD GPUs when a NV GPU is in the same system, if its tit for tat.

Cool air for Nvidia gpu's.

I should have been clearer and was talking about AMD being offered/not offered PhysX way back when nVidia bought it from Ageia.

AMD "allegedly" wasn't interested (as nVidia are not interested in Mantle) and nVidia have dug their heels in and blocked AMD (which i feel is harsh). The end users lose out on the tit for tat that is going on between the hierarchy.

I spoke with Roy Taylor, Nvidia’s VP of Content Business Development, and he says his phone hasn’t even rung to discuss the issue. “If Richard Huddy wants to call me up, that’s a call I’d love to take,” he said.

Because when you first read the words 'it would work out to less than pennies per GPU shipped' on a tech site, the more important part was at the beginning 'Nvidia claims'.

Nvidia stated they had/hadn't discussed PhysX with AMD, if Nvidia don't want you to know what really happened...



I don't know why Mantle or anything else TA is being discussed in point of what your thread is about either, they all work when you have Nvidia in your system with AMD rendering, AMD block NOTHING on their own hardware, AMD aren't Gpuphobic, they embrace everyone.

 

[LtMatt]

So what specifically does AMD block on AMD GPUs when a NV GPU is in the same system, if its tit for tat.

Nvidia users can use True Audio if they have an AMD APU in their system, even if they have a dedicated Nvidia gpu present.

 

[Marine-RX179]

NVidia's argument would simply be that if you buy one of their cards then you should use it as intended (as a primary GPU for gaming), rather than a Physx add-in card.

That's is like:
You bought a burger from a burger joint, ordered a burger and paid your money. As you sat down and just about to grab your burger with your hands to take a bite, you are being told you MUST eat it with knife and fork even if it was takeaway, or you are forbidden to eat "their" burger. Wonder how would one react in that situation? I know I would show the shop owner my middle-finger and slam the door on my way out, and bring the burger back to my car/home and eat with my hands

 

[Gregster]

Cool air for Nvidia gpu's.





Because when you first read the words 'it would work out to less than pennies per GPU shipped' on a tech site, the more important part was at the beginning 'Nvidia claims'.

Nvidia stated they had/hadn't discussed PhysX with AMD, if Nvidia don't want you to know what really happened...

I don't know why Mantle or anything else TA is being discussed in point of what your thread is about either, they all work when you have Nvidia in your system with AMD rendering, AMD block NOTHING on their own hardware, AMD aren't Gpuphobic, they embrace everyone.

Not sure why you picked me up, when I clearly said I feel it isn't fair and as for the sarcastic face

AMD embrace everyone you say? What about their own 6 series users? What about their 5 series users? Why are they not able to use Mantle?

 

[Martini1991]

AMD embrace everyone you say? What about their own 6 series users? What about their 5 series users? Why are they not able to use Mantle?

Because they're technically incapable of doing so.

 

[Calin Banc]

Not sure why you picked me up, when I clearly said I feel it isn't fair and as for the sarcastic face

AMD embrace everyone you say? What about their own 6 series users? What about their 5 series users? Why are they not able to use Mantle?

For the same reason nvidia isn't doing physix on 5xxx series or lower.

 

[Gregster]

Because they're technically incapable of doing so.

What makes them incapable? The PS3/Xbox have APIs written to get close to the metal for their GPUs, so why can't the same be done for the 6/5 series?

You can clearly see from the slide that Mantle isn't tied to GCN, so to me, that would make it capable of supporting older AMD cards.

For the same reason nvidia isn't doing physix on 5xxx series or lower.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_gpus.html

PhysX covers far more GPUs than Mantle does.

 

[VincentHanna]

You might as well complain that Nvidia G-sync doesn't support the 5xx Nvidia cards.

 

[Confused Stu]

Mantle, TrueAudio, GSync, and now support for older GPU models? This is heading off topic rather rapidly, how odd for the Graphics Card subforum!

 

[Gregster]

Mantle, TrueAudio, GSync, and now support for older GPU models? This is heading off topic rather rapidly, how odd for the Graphics Card subforum!

Agreed and I am not helping. I have said my piece and will leave it at that

 

[Calin Banc]

What makes them incapable? The PS3/Xbox have APIs written to get close to the metal for their GPUs, so why can't the same be done for the 6/5 series?

You can clearly see from the slide that Mantle isn't tied to GCN, so to me, that would make it capable of supporting older AMD cards.



http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_gpus.html

PhysX covers far more GPUs than Mantle does.

Of course it does, it's on the market for some time now. Also, most likely the performance worth getting out of the older GPUs, only shows itself with the latest, more powerful models. 6970 I think, it's somewhere at the level of 7850 or close in modern games. Doesn't really matter.

 

[Final8y]

I don't know why Mantle or anything else TA is being discussed in point of what your thread is about either, they all work when you have Nvidia in your system with AMD rendering, AMD block NOTHING on their own hardware, AMD aren't Gpuphobic, they embrace everyone.

Nvidia users can use True Audio if they have an AMD APU in their system, even if they have a dedicated Nvidia gpu present.

Indeed.

 

[Marine-RX179]

AMD embrace everyone you say? What about their own 6 series users? What about their 5 series users? Why are they not able to use Mantle?

Not offense Greg, but isn't that like asking "Why can't HD4850 or 9800GTX+ use dx11?"?