The Register does PhysX - Review

[testa12]

why why why why should we pay more for this than the best xfi?
sound is probly 50 times more important than 'bits of rubble' plus a good sound crad INCREASES your frame rate and costs half the price.

I'm using the standard issue onboard Realtek AC'97

How does a good souncard increase your framerate?

 

[Eliot]

but good sound costs 80 quid, a bit of rubble, a card that could start a small fire and a lower framerate costs 200 quid and yes peopel do spend more on graphics cards, because their worth it

 

[Energize]

I'm using the standard issue onboard Realtek AC'97

How does a good souncard increase your framerate?

Sound cards increase your rate by about 1-2fps. They are worth buying though for the sound quality in games that support eax. The creative audigy 4 is a good deal atm £30, its a great card. The x-fi is better, dont think its worth spending double the money on though unless your an audiophile.

 

[easyrider]

I wonder if ATi and Nvidia will do better than Ageia when they enable physics processing with Crossfire/SLi instead of with a dedicated card. I also wonder if this will breed a new generation of fanboy. The "dual GPU physics fanboys" versus the "dedicated physics card fanboys."

Time will tell, but 2006 is definitely going to be an interesting year in gaming.

Can't you just stop it with the fanboy talk please....?
its getting grating

I think its to early to tell with this card.Im not that interested in it TBH.And certainly not for 200 quid.

 

[Darkwave]

Yes but my point is that people spend much more on them on a soundcard because people want good looking games rather than sound. And if something makes a big difference it is worth the extra money.

Well yeah of course, but the difference is that upgrading your graphics card is the #1 way to boost performance and immersion in games, and that's why people will continue to spend up to an in excess of £400 for one instead of £200 on an Ageia PhysX card unless they have money to blow.

Would you rather pay £200 for a card that will make your FPS soar and visuals look stunning, or pay £200 for a card that adds a bit of rubble and drops your FPS like a lead balloon?

As for sound cards, I too am using on-board Realtek AC'97 audio, because a soundcard doesn't make much of a difference in comparison to a graphics card. I'll buy a new sound card before I buy an Ageia PhysX card though.

Can't you just stop it with the fanboy talk please....?
its getting grating

Why? I was simply making a valid observation. You get fanboys in CPU vs. CPU, GPU vs. GPU, and I have no doubt that we'll end up with fanboys in PPU vs. SLi/Crossfire Physics.

I don't mean to be rude, but if you don't like what I just said about fanboys then simply ignore it, because what I just said was in no way against board policy at all and was obviously not "flamebait" since we don't even have physics fanboys (yet) from what I've seen.

 

[testa12]

Sound cards increase your rate by about 1-2fps. They are worth buying though for the sound quality in games that support eax. The creative audigy 4 is a good deal atm £30, its a great card. The x-fi is better, dont think its worth spending double the money on though unless your an audiophile.

<cough> ******** </cough>

Are you serious? I've not heard that before. Seriously though, is that true?

 

[Steedie]

<cough> ******** </cough>

Are you serious? I've not heard that before. Seriously though, is that true?

its true

a good soundcard will take a lot of the pressure off the cpu allowing it concentrate on more of the physics and other games related stuff

 

[cyclops12]

yup onboard sound is not good for fps

 

[sunlitsix]

well most onboard sound isnt

 

[JoyPadJedi]

Dare I say, I suspect PhysX may even go the way of 3Dfx's first 'SLI'.

Watch me be completely wrong in 2 years

 

[easyrider]

<cough> ******** </cough>

Are you serious? I've not heard that before. Seriously though, is that true?

anything that takes off cpu cycles is a bonus.A sound card does this

 

[cyclops12]

well most onboard sound isnt

nah all onboard sound isnt good for fps and some sound cards are not good either
there was a test done in micro mart last year sometime
there was only a couple of cards that didnt effect fps .onboard was the worst by some way though

 

[testa12]

nah all onboard sound isnt good for fps and some sound cards are not good either
there was a test done in micro mart last year sometime
there was only a couple of cards that didnt effect fps .onboard was the worst by some way though

It's been a while since I had the old SoundBlaster 16, back in the days. I really had no idea that soundcard could have an effect on FPS.

Interesting stuff though, especially next time we do a ATI vs. NVIDIA benchmark ... best make sure you're running the right soundcard.

 

[cyclops12]

i think the only benchmark that uses sound is 3d mark 2001

in micromart they used in game fps to get the results.if i remeber correctly it was ut 2004

 

[Darkwave]

3D Mark '03 uses a couple of sound tests too.