A PC add to increase proformance....alot

tHIS IS BIG!

A company called AGEIA, which normaly dealing with networking Hardware, has developed a chip to to co-process physic with the CPU. the Physics chip (PPU or Physics processing unt) is called PHYSX. this PPU cames on its own board with its own GDDR3 RAM ( im hearing 128MB),works together with the CPU and GPU (or VPU...ATI fans) and uses an expansion slot
to connect to the system. no benchmarks are out yet but this add-on board increases gaming and other physics
based graphic programs dramaticaly. 100 time the physics proceesing then the CPU alone and i am not sure if this i true but
2 to 3 time the GPU preformance than with out the PPU. also EPIC games most notabley are working with this new tech and unreal 3 engine use this Physics tech.

here are some articles about this:

click here for more info

interview with PHYSX rep

DISCUSS!!

Sorry to disapoint you teapot but kami was faster with that : P

WHERE?

What is there to discuss about it? Let me see...PCI implementations would slow down your GPU and CPU (increased bus traffic in different directions). PCI-E implementation would halve you channel bandwidth. I'm still unsure what they mean by 'add-in card' they haven't given enough information for any logical conclusion. Until I have one in my lab, I can make no speculation.

Originally posted by TheTeaPot@May 6 2005, 03:19 PM
WHERE?

Too lazy to look myself, but there certainly was a topic bout that already

well i didnt find it, so oh well.

Originally posted by papajoe@May 6 2005, 07:20 PM
What is there to discuss about it? Let me see...PCI implementations would slow down your GPU and CPU (increased bus traffic in different directions). PCI-E implementation would halve you channel bandwidth. I'm still unsure what they mean by 'add-in card' they haven't given enough information for any logical conclusion. Until I have one in my lab, I can make no speculation.

from what i have heard it will use a 4x pci-e. and what ever lanes are left on that bus it will use. there might be some balancing required on the bus, but iv read it increases performance of the CPU and GPU.

the add on on card connects to the Pci-e bus internaly only, so theres no plate to screw in or input/outputs of an sort.

WOA, i posted it when Kac and i were still in grade school

Originally posted by papajoe@May 6 2005, 07:20 PM
What is there to discuss about it?* Let me see...PCI implementations would slow down your GPU and CPU (increased bus traffic in different directions).* PCI-E implementation would halve you channel bandwidth.* I'm still unsure what they mean by 'add-in card'* they haven't given enough information for any logical conclusion.* Until I have one in my lab, I can make no speculation.

So you're implying that a physics hardware card isn't practical because it has to go through PCI?

So i guess you're right and the company developing the hardware is misguided then? That would also mean that the programmers behind Unreal engine 3 are also misguided. Perhaps you should contact them to explain why a physics hardware board won't bring any significant advantages?

You say you won't speculate until you have one in your "lab" but you're already speculating that the system won't be fast.

Even if physics processing was impractical via PCI... We would eventually see the design of new ports with sufficiant speed. But since there are PCI 3d cards then I have serious doubts about your statement anyway. The point of a physics chip is to perform complex physics calculations and free the CPU from that task. Even using a standard PCI slot would see a performance increase.

Originally posted by papajoe@May 6 2005, 07:20 PM
What is there to discuss about it? Let me see...PCI implementations would slow down your GPU and CPU (increased bus traffic in different directions). PCI-E implementation would halve you channel bandwidth. I'm still unsure what they mean by 'add-in card' they haven't given enough information for any logical conclusion. Until I have one in my lab, I can make no speculation.

Sorry for the above post, it wasn't me but a co-worker who thinks its cool to post with other peoples id's. Yes we work in a lab, but it doesn't change the fact he's an ass_hole. I like the part how he says it's going to halve your bandwidth but until he has one he can make no speculation.... derr.