Nvidia disables PhysX when ATI card is present with an Nvidia card for windows 7.

[Things change I've changed]

Well personally I don't care if ati GPU's support PhysX or not, that isn't the problem for me, it's the fact that by just having an ati card in your system with the latest drivers PhysX is disabled on any Nvidia card that is also in your machine even though you are using that card for gaming + PhysX, it's stupid.

For people that run multi-screen set-ups and wish to use physX this move basically forces them into having to purchase two nvidia cards instead of using an older ATI card to power two screens and and a biffy nvidia card two power two other panels for gaming and physX.

 

[OldComputerGuy7]

I wonder how this will play out for nvidia, although i know on steam most people have nvidia cards so it might not hurt them so much anyway.

 

[ebilcake]

Physx belongs to nvidia, they can decide what hardware it works with as venders have done for years, theres nothing illiegal about what they've done and they won't suffer for it, things might change when an open physics api is actually available and supported but until then physx is theirs to do with as they please and there is no competition, excluding software physics.

It's not like ATI users are missing out on anything atm, there are few games that support it and the ones that do suck... so far at least.

 

[ViRuS2k]

BATMAN ARKAM ASYLUM supports PhysX and does a good job at it
they must have payed the developer becuse when didnt any graphics card do moving smoke

i mean with it enabled you get nice moveing smoke, with it disabled you get NOTHING NADA ZIPPO not even static smoke lol talk about = THE WAY ITS MENT TO BE PLAYED.

im really starting to hate nvidia and with a passion i might add.
(lots of typo`s) i know lol

 

[JonJ678]

If intel had the same train of thought as nVidia they would disable ati cards from intel platforms as there owned by AMD, thank god the retardation of nVidia appears not to be spreading.

It does occur that adopting sli for P55 and X58 may well be to ease the transition of dropping crossfire for the next generation

 

[Monkeynut]

BATMAN ARKAM ASYLUM supports PhysX and does a good job at it
they must have payed the developer becuse when didnt any graphics card do moving smoke

i mean with it enabled you get nice moveing smoke, with it disabled you get NOTHING NADA ZIPPO not even static smoke lol talk about = THE WAY ITS MENT TO BE PLAYED.

im really starting to hate nvidia and with a passion i might add.
(lots of typo`s) i know lol

I can understand extremely complex water effects not being present when not using PhysX or OpenCL because of the processing power involved. But smoke?!?

Particle engines have been around since when, 1998 is it?

Nvidia need to get a grip.

 

[kylew]

Physx belongs to nvidia, they can decide what hardware it works with as venders have done for years, theres nothing illiegal about what they've done and they won't suffer for it, things might change when an open physics api is actually available and supported but until then physx is theirs to do with as they please and there is no competition, excluding software physics.

It's not like ATI users are missing out on anything atm, there are few games that support it and the ones that do suck... so far at least.

Don't be such a fool. The PC is an open standard, people should be free to use whatever hardware they wish to use without hardware manufacturers maliciously including cues to disable hardware when rival hardware is detected.

 

[melbourne720]

Poor reason.

They could just refuse to support you if you run into issues, recommending you remove the ATI card or something. There is a big difference between that and actively disabling it.

Let the user decide.

Then when PhysX doesn't work, it will get a bad reputation, not the ATi card. I don't see why NVidia should spend money fielding calls on their support forums on what is a minor configuration with a minor piece of functionality. If they were to enable it, it would have to work inorder not to have negative impact on the brand.

I understand as enthusiasts we'd be happy to tinker with the config, drivers, settings, etc to resolve any issues but the vast majority of gamers that I know would want it to 'just work'.

Don't be such a fool. The PC is an open standard, people should be free to use whatever hardware they wish to use without hardware manufacturers maliciously including cues to disable hardware when rival hardware is detected.

Can you put a Intel CPU in an AMD motherboard? We should be glad that NVidia and ATi use the same slot

[Note toungue in cheek there]

 

[Chronictank]

Can you put a Intel CPU in an AMD motherboard? We should be glad that NVidia and ATi use the same slot

[Note toungue in cheek there]

Pretty sure socket 7 was for both

That is a pretty poor example tho toungue in cheek or not

 

[Rroff]

Physx runs fairly much independantly of the rendering code tho, not sure about fluid dynamics as I've not played with them but with everything else you can run full simulation without rendering a single thing. So its not really an issue what your using to render unless nVidia has added some proprietary effects and thats not really the idea of a physics engine.

 

[Dinkas]

This is a frigging pain in the ass, I recently had the same problem using XP and the latest drivers, normally I have an ati card in my system running alongside my GTX260 for a multi-screen set-up and noticed that I couldn't enable PhysX on the nvidia card at all after updating my drivers, can't honestly believe they have done this, this means if I want PhysX and multi-screen I have to go out and purchase another nvidia card.

So Nvidia disable PhysX even when one of their own GPU's is rendering? That's simply despicable. Nvidia are beneath comtempt

edit: The quote from Nvidia says only when a non Nvidia GPU is rendering

 

[Things change I've changed]

edit: The quote from Nvidia says only when a non Nvidia GPU is rendering

Well with the latest drivers physX is disabled on my nvidia card, the option is even missing from the nivida advanced control panel, I take out my ati card the option reappears and I can enable physX on my nvidia card again, other people have reported the same in the nvidia forums, the only way to solve this is to go back to an older driver, apparently this is not a driver fault.

 

[melbourne720]

Pretty sure socket 7 was for both

That is a pretty poor example tho toungue in cheek or not

Fair point, but I don't see a socket 7 rig in your sig Just a Intel rig that can't accept an AMD CPU - those anti-competitive cheats!!!111

 

[OrphanBoy]

I still don't see what this has to do with graphics tbh. They're providing a physics solution - what do they care if someone else is doing the graphics? Do they care which mouse driver is loaded and providing input to their program?

 

[ps3ud0]

1. It is their product - why shouldn't they set boundaries on its compatibility? Can you imagine them having to buy all those different ATi cards to have to QA/Test the different configurations, and spend money themselves making sure there £50 physics gfx card works with a £200 ati one? The PhsyX dept must have a budget, it won't be huge - this is one of the limitations.

Thats the main reason the DirectX API exists so such hardware compatibility considerations arent needed. The same could be said for the Physx API...

ps3ud0

 

[TAC4U]

I really hate what nVidia has pulled here. I have an old 8800GT that I installed as a secondary device hoping to use it as a PhysX card but it doesn't work. Now I have an old card sitting about that's perfectly capable of the job but is prevented from doing so by a political play from nVidia.

I really hope PhysX dies a quick death and that game developers instead choose to focus their efforts through the DX11 API, which supports physics through the compute shaders. If PhysX will never be an industry wide solution then it serves no purpose - games will only ever use it for trivial nonsense, as we have already seen, and it will never become integral to the gameplay.

 

[ebilcake]

Don't be such a fool. The PC is an open standard, people should be free to use whatever hardware they wish to use without hardware manufacturers maliciously including cues to disable hardware when rival hardware is detected.

Physx is NOT though, it's owned by nvidia. Why do you guys have dificultly understanding this?

It's foolish to expect them to support this with competitors products. Quite simply, if you want physx you have to own an nvidia card, not only for physx but also as your primary card.

This is morally right? no, but this is business.

 

[Monkeynut]

Physx is NOT though, it's owned by nvidia. Why do you guys have dificultly understanding this?

It's foolish to expect them to support this with competitors products. Quite simply, if you want physx you have to own an nvidia card, not only for physx but also as your primary card.

This is morally right? no, but this is business.

And one rule of buisness is that the customer is always right. What Nvidia are doing is an insult to their paying customers who have been running with an ATI main card and an Nvidia card for PhysX, who are going to find their card is now a paperweight.

I for one will be voting with my wallet and not touching another Nvidia product. Their constant stream of rehashed cards, limiting standards (DirectX10 being cut down) and questionable buisness strategies at the expense of their customers has pushed it too far.

 

[ebilcake]

I for one will be voting with my wallet and not touching another Nvidia product. Their constant stream of rehashed cards, limiting standards (DirectX10 being cut down) and questionable buisness strategies at the expense of their customers has pushed it too far.

You do that, do be honest if you already have an ATI as primary anyway their probably not losing much.

But don't worry hardware physics will come to ATI soon enough when a true open physics api becomes available.

 

[TAC4U]

I for one will be voting with my wallet and not touching another Nvidia product. Their constant stream of rehashed cards, limiting standards (DirectX10 being cut down) and questionable buisness strategies at the expense of their customers has pushed it too far.

I think that sums up my feelings. I don't want to support a company that is so overt in their political power plays, from the TWIMTBP program to PhysX to their boycott of DX10.1. I want companies to compete on the merits of their products, not through manipulation. There was no reason PhysX couldn't have continued as a standalone product (with the dedicated card or as a secondary GPU), while still remaining a perk for those buying an nVidia card for their primary graphics. Instead they took a product with real potential and killed it by making it proprietary. Still, ATi has been very slow to respond and that's disappointing. They should have their own game advertising program and CUDA / PhysX alternative, just to maintain as high a profile as possible.