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PhysX - 260 + Low end card?

Booza

Booza

Booza

Associate
Joined
21 Oct 2008
Posts
98
Hi,

I have an Asus P6T with a GTX260. Loverly.

From the Nvidia site I see I can add in a second lower spec GPU that will help out the 260 using PhysX.

Does this second card need to be physX rated or anything special. I have a 8600gt I could put in, or maybe one of these later, cheapish cards...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?&groupid=701&catid=56&subid=1010&sortby=priceAsc

Also, would there be any real world benifits to this, I cant find any real reviews and some reports are contradictory.

Cheers.
 
PhysX is only a little more than a marketing gimmick at the moment :)

There have been a lot of threads about this in the past few months.
 
8600GT/9500GT or higher is worth doing.

Anything lower isn't fast enough to make a difference.
 
Sell your 260, and get a 280 with the cost of the 2nd card you where gonna buy.

Everything will run quicker, not just the physx. A 2nd card for Physx is a wate of money IMO.
 
EvilOne said:
Sell your 260, and get a 280 with the cost of the 2nd card you where gonna buy.

Everything will run quicker, not just the physx. A 2nd card for Physx is a wate of money IMO.
Click to expand...

You can pick up an 8600GT for £30 these days.

But yeah, I wouldn't go out and buy a card just for PhysX, if you have an 8600GT knocking about then use it, otherwise I wouldn't bother.
 
I thought you needed a 8800GT or above to get the physx to work. I know it certainly doesn't work on a 8500 as tried (don't worry it was some fun with a spare card - nvidia control panel didn't find it as a card to use for that)

Unless you're playing something like UT3 with the levels that use physx its just not worth it at all and like people have said you're better saving your money for either A. Pub, B. GTx280 or C. future upgrade...
 
Guardsmon said:
I thought you needed a 8800GT or above to get the physx to work. I know it certainly doesn't work on a 8500 as tried (don't worry it was some fun with a spare card - nvidia control panel didn't find it as a card to use for that)

Unless you're playing something like UT3 with the levels that use physx its just not worth it at all and like people have said you're better saving your money for either A. Pub, B. GTx280 or C. future upgrade...
Click to expand...

8600GT and above gives you a performance boost. Anything lower actually slows down the PhysX compared to just doing it on the GPU. Anything over using a 9600GT for PhysX shows no extra benefit.
 
mirrorsedgephysxskalier.png
 
Many thanks for the replies, especially that graph above.

It seems that as I have an 8600gt to spare for a while it would be woth putting in, and keeping an eye out for a decent price 9800 or better.

One more question...do I have to enable physX or do I just slot in the second card and it will sort itself out, and will I need the drivers for the 8600gt?
 
With mine i found that vista64 just auto aquired the drivers and instaled the 8600GTS alongside my 260.

I then enabled 'GPU PhysX' in the NV control section and that was it.

gt
 
It made a massive difference to my physx fps ;)

I have to say, even if Mirror's edge is the only physx game I play, it was worth the effort - the extra effects are rather lovely.
 
Seems like there's not been a worthwhile upgrade for the 8800GT for some time now now with the other cards so much dearer. My budget is the £100-£150 range which was why I bout the 800GT when it came out as I need 2 of them, 1 for each of my non-SLI PC's. Sometime ago I was told there wasn't much point going for the 9800GT or GTX260.

Is there a good upgrade for the 8800GT coming soon?
 
Ouch, yes I posted in the wrong topic, very sorry about that! I had a few topics open in my browser tabs.

I play at 1680x1050 on a 22" wide screen and on the second PC my son plays at 1280x1024 on a 19" TFT which is due for an upgrade to 22".
Both PC's are currently the same spec as my signature. I'd like to stick with Nvidia if possible.
 
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Well if you want to get something now the HD4850 would be you're best bet, but I would definately hold on you your 8800GT's for a while. I don't know what games you are playing, but I'm still using my 8800GTX and in DX9 everything looks amazing still. depends if you are picky enough to want AA on while using DX10
 
The GT should handle most games at that res - it'll only struggle in a select few.
As above, if you're really itching for an upgrade, the 4850 would be sensible, especially if you pick one up from the Member's Market on the cheap :)
 
Not worth having a second card in to do PhysX, as its just going to be sat there with its fan spinning creating extra heat, and sucking extra power for absolutely nowt, unless all your going to play is mirrors edge.
 
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