Ageia Physx and GRAW -- First impressions inside

irev210

Senior member
Jun 15, 2002
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Okay, so I've had this Ageia Physx PPU for awhile, but nothing really to actually test it out.


So far, it seems pretty cool. In my opinion, the best part about the card is to see where the bullets are hitting arround you (IE, debris falling right in front of you). It definitely adds a more realistic feel to the game.


GRAW (The new Ghost Recon game) doesnt seem to fully take advantage of all that a PPU has to offer, but the addition is still very welcome. I would love to interact more with the enviroment, as the few things that you can do are very cool. The downside to GRAW is it does not appear to be mutli-threaded, atleast on my computer I couldnt use more than 50% of each core during game play.

There has been some talk about what a PPU can really do for you, and if new CPU's will be more powerful, making this a rather fruitless upgrade. While new processors like Conroe set a new level for performance, I still think that as games get more complex, the CPU still is not powerful enough to handle all of the "physx" calculations on top of everything else the CPU needs to do, so in the end... if you already have a top-of-the-line SLI or CROSSFIRE setup, you probably want the best gaming experience money can buy... and in my opinion... this card seems to add a nice feel to the game.


Hopefully, we will see a lot more interaction with a PPU in the future, and a lot more potential.


Enjoy the terrible video. I wish I had a better camera, but this is the best I got.


AGEIA CARD PIC

GRAW Game pic


GRAW demo with AGEIA PHYSX ENABLED


I think this is a repeat of the NEC Power VR PCX2 chip, which was jointly developed with VideoLogic.

Great idea, and will eventually get absorbed into a video card. I guess you can say the same thing with 3DFX and VooDoo 1/2. Eventually, it found itself combined with 2D graphcis, for an all-in-one card.



Additional Thoughts:

Many of you may take GRAW as what physx can do for a game... and I have to say I dont think graw is a very good example of what a game can do with an ageia physx PPU, BUT it is a start. In my opinion, this is just an introduction of what is to come. We've turned a new corner. The old days of not being able to interact with your enviroment will hopefully go away. I really just want to say how cool it is watching debris fall all around you during a shoot-out.



 

the Chase

Golden Member
Sep 22, 2005
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No sweat- Thanks for posting this!! Any framerate differences between using the card and not using it??

Edit - just watched the vid- pretty cool- loved the palm tree movement when shooting it and the leaves falling off the tree after shooting into it. Agree with you in that I think games will make more use of this as time goes on.
 

sisq0kidd

Lifer
Apr 27, 2004
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Wow, your post seems a little too formal and professional. You work for AGEIA or something? ;) jk

Great post man. Downloading the video right now.
 

lopri

Elite Member
Jul 27, 2002
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But I've seen stuff like this in games utilizing the Havoc engine. I don't see much difference. (Well, maybe CPU load is different but I couldn't tell since my single-core CPU is always @100% load at gaming)
 

akugami

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2005
6,210
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Thanks for uploading the video and stuff. While there was clearly some physics acceleration going on, it was mostly in the form of graphical effects and nothing earth shattering. There doesn't even seem to be any lasting damage on floors, walls, etc. Unfortunately, pretty much what I expected. Zero impact on gameplay. GRAW does look pretty as heck though. Maybe in the future when we have games built with physics acceleration truly in mind, we can get environments that can be destroyed in a realistic manner. I'm thinking something like the scen in Four Brothers where the hitmen that were sent after the four brothers put so much lead in the brick wall that it broke through and you could shoot the person behind it. Or just grenade the wall down. Cool stuff like that, that can change gameplay.
 

irev210

Senior member
Jun 15, 2002
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Originally posted by: sisq0kidd
Wow, your post seems a little too formal and professional. You work for AGEIA or something? ;) jk

Great post man. Downloading the video right now.

haha if i worked for ageia, i'd say that this was the best stuff ever!

Instead, i think it is a good start to a new wave of gaming.

 

Geomagick

Golden Member
Dec 3, 1999
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There are some nice effects, but the 'hype' surrounding the card suggested deformable environments and large amounts of debris.

After those vehicles in the video blew up there should have been a large debris field, just watch any news channel to see it in real life, but there wasn't.

This has relegated the physx from a maybe to a definite no for me at the moment.
 

Doctorweir

Golden Member
Sep 20, 2000
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IMHO the developers need more time to integrate the full capability...GRAW is just a start.
It all depend on the fact, if the card will be widely accepted and used by programmers and users alike.
The card is reguler PCI? Not PCIe? Interesting... I thought it would need more throughput ;)
 
Jun 14, 2003
10,442
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nice one dude

is there any chance you can do like performance FPS wise, with and without the physx?

oh and you can use FRAPS to capture in game video....with a dual core setup this should be no problem at all (unlike on single core where gets abit choppy)

also dont forget, this is only the demo, maybe there will be more to come in the full game
 

Nirach

Senior member
Jul 18, 2005
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I'll be more interested in this PhysX stuff when it becomes part of the graphics cards. I don't have the slots to accomodate one :p

That and it'd be nice to see some more supported games, but it should get off to a flying start. I know I like debris fields when I blow stuff up :D
 

PhoenixOrion

Diamond Member
May 4, 2004
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that game looks good with physx.

quite understandable with technology like this that there's going to be a lot of work refining

i can only imagine that games will just look better and better with such use of hardware.
 
Mar 6, 2006
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Question: Does not having a PhysX card mean these effects are completely disabled, or can we still run them albeit with reduced FPS?
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
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I'm sure others will confirm my results; the rocks chips flying, leaves falling when tress are shot, everything in that vid clip, is there without the PPU. Doors on cars fly open and can be shot completely off, tires deflate, umbrellas, tables, and chairs get nuked when grenaded, windows break, cans and cartons react and make unwanted noise, on and on.

Perhaps it increases FPS? or just reduces CPU load if playing@eye candy res&settings? Beyond that there isn't anything I can see in that clip you need the PPU for in this demo.
 

the Chase

Golden Member
Sep 22, 2005
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Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
I'm sure others will confirm my results; the rocks chips flying, leaves falling when tress are shot, everything in that vid clip, is there without the PPU. Doors on cars fly open and can be shot completely off, tires deflate, umbrellas, tables, and chairs get nuked when grenaded, windows break, cans and cartons react and make unwanted noise, on and on.

Perhaps it increases FPS? or just reduces CPU load if playing@eye candy res&settings? Beyond that there isn't anything I can see in that clip you need the PPU for in this demo.

That's what I'm curious about. Does the PPU allow you to see effects that you can't see in this game without it? Can you fill us in on this OP?

If you look here http://physx.ageia.com/footage.html you can see a difference in the detail of the explosions. Can you see the same difference irev210?
 

DAPUNISHER

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Originally posted by: the Chase
That's what I'm curious about. Does the PPU allow you to see effects that you can't see in this game without it? Can you fill us in on this OP?

If you look here http://physx.ageia.com/footage.html you can see a difference in the detail of the explosions. Can you see the same difference irev210?
That clip stopped loading on me, and now the page won't reload, but it would make sense as the low res clip couldn't represent detail very well. I certainly hope the benefits of the PPU for GRAW go beyond small details though. I expect a few sites will have reviews examining this soon.

 

the Chase

Golden Member
Sep 22, 2005
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Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Originally posted by: the Chase
That's what I'm curious about. Does the PPU allow you to see effects that you can't see in this game without it? Can you fill us in on this OP?

If you look here http://physx.ageia.com/footage.html you can see a difference in the detail of the explosions. Can you see the same difference irev210?
That clip stopped loading on me, and now the page won't reload, but it would make sense as the low res clip couldn't represent detail very well. I certainly hope the benefits of the PPU for GRAW go beyond small details though. I expect a few sites will have reviews examining this soon.

Yeah I agree. This game is nothing earth shattering and it sounds like you get most or all the physics effects without the card. I haven't played the demo yet so I can't compare anything in the OP's video yet.

It's the same res. on the 2 clips though and there are actually quite large pieces of debris that you can see in the clip that uses the card. This is also Ageia showing this so who knows.

OP there is a new driver out for the PPU card- http://www.ageia.com/developers/why.html -you probably have it already but if not..
 
Jun 14, 2003
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Originally posted by: the Chase
Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Originally posted by: the Chase
That's what I'm curious about. Does the PPU allow you to see effects that you can't see in this game without it? Can you fill us in on this OP?

If you look here http://physx.ageia.com/footage.html you can see a difference in the detail of the explosions. Can you see the same difference irev210?
That clip stopped loading on me, and now the page won't reload, but it would make sense as the low res clip couldn't represent detail very well. I certainly hope the benefits of the PPU for GRAW go beyond small details though. I expect a few sites will have reviews examining this soon.

Yeah I agree. This game is nothing earth shattering and it sounds like you get most or all the physics effects without the card. I haven't played the demo yet so I can't compare anything in the OP's video yet.

It's the same res. on the 2 clips though and there are actually quite large pieces of debris that you can see in the clip that uses the card. This is also Ageia showing this so who knows.

OP there is a new driver out for the PPU card- http://www.ageia.com/developers/why.html -you probably have it already but if not..

well the difference is definately there, shame the vids arent bigger, looks better with the physx for sure

im awaiting Cell factor as that game looks like its gonna rock with the physx
 

LittleNemoNES

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
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I can confirm that all the effects are there without the PPU...

What are you FPS with the card enabled and disabled? If you would do the test, many will thank you. :)
 

the Chase

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Sep 22, 2005
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Originally posted by: gersson
I can confirm that all the effects are there without the PPU...

What are you FPS with the card enabled and disabled? If you would do the test, many will thank you. :)

You've got one!?
 

LittleNemoNES

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
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Originally posted by: the Chase
Originally posted by: gersson
I can confirm that all the effects are there without the PPU...

What are you FPS with the card enabled and disabled? If you would do the test, many will thank you. :)

You've got one!?

I mean I'm comparing the graphics in the video with what I saw without a PPU. So no card for me (yet?)
 

450R

Senior member
Feb 22, 2005
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Effects ARE different with the PPU, it just doesn't change the gameplay in any way. You basically get more debris.

I'm pretty sure it was done this way to guarantee everyone would be on equal ground online, with or without the Aegia card.
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
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Saw the comparison, not just more debris, the smoke is better too. Nice start for the PPU, ways to go before I'm going to pony up for it though.
 

5150Joker

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Feb 6, 2002
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What pisses me off is that we have all these people with dual core systems yet developers aren't taking advantage of this by relegating all physics calculations to one of the cores. If they did, I wonder how the results would stack up against the OPs AEGIA vid.
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
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Originally posted by: 5150Joker
What pisses me off is that we have all these people with dual core systems yet developers aren't taking advantage of this by relegating all physics calculations to one of the cores. If they did, I wonder how the results would stack up against the OPs AEGIA vid.

Aegia would have you believe that doing that would not work well. However, I do not believe them in the slightest. I would also like to see how a game will look with one cpu core running the game, and the other cpu core running the physics effects.
 

JAG87

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
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honestly people play source engine games. They physics are just as good if not even better, and you dont need no 200 dollar card. try maxing out CS source on your computer, turn on HDR and all the candy. BEst experience ever. and best of all, you dont need dedicated hardware to run it. HDR runs with AA no matter if u have nvidia or ATI. the physics are there no matter if u have physx or not. and it looks all spectacular. games that are coming out now, still cant compete with a game thats 1.5 years old.

or how about BF2. ten times better then GRAW. please. amazing explosions, amazing gameplay, and amazing graphics. without a physx card once again. My opinion is instead of looking into making new hardware to accellerate games, we should look into making games that run more efficiently on the hardware we have now. EA and Valve are excellent examples of this, other developers should learn how to make games that look so good and play so good at the same time.


*edit*
good job OP, enjoyed the video.