[Bug] Nvidia removes restrictions on hybrid NV+ATI Physx setups!!!

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Idontcare

Elite Member
Oct 10, 1999
21,110
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The present move also seems to have commercial interests in mind, as NVIDIA could clear inventories of GeForce GPUs at least to users of ATI Radeon GPUs.
Click to expand...

My speculation here would be that Nvidia is responding to pressures from the channel to help move inventory and not so much as a response to the negative outcry from end-users.

If they took it away once...any assurance the "feature" won't evaporate again in future driver revs?
 
C

Creig

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,170
13
81
Wow, I certainly didn't see THAT one coming. It might be a bit early to be thinking this, but maybe this represents a shift in attitude at Nvidia. Going from iron fisted control of their IP to a more open, user-friendly stance.
 
G

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
Or maybe they decided the best way to get PhysX adopted is to not lock out a large % of the market?
 
Phynaz

Phynaz

Lifer
Mar 13, 2006
10,140
819
126
One caution, it's removed in the beta drivers. May be in the WHQL drivers.
 
J

Janooo

Golden Member
Aug 22, 2005
1,067
13
81
Idontcare said:
My speculation here would be that Nvidia is responding to pressures from the channel to help move inventory and not so much as a response to the negative outcry from end-users.

If they took it away once...any assurance the "feature" won't evaporate again in future driver revs?
Click to expand...
This!
It's all about money they can make of the old HW.
 
S

Scali

Banned
Dec 3, 2004
2,495
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0
I wonder if it has anything to do with the PhysX manager moving from nVidia to AMD.
 
T

tincart

Senior member
Apr 15, 2010
630
1
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I've never been sold on the on-going importance of PhysX anyways so this won't do much for me. I certainly imagine other consumers being wary too. Once bitten, twice shy.
 
B

bunnyfubbles

Lifer
Sep 3, 2001
12,248
3
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well, if its a permanent thing we'll undoubtedly start seeing some of these cards specifically marketed for PhysX.

A passively cooled "green" edition of a card could easily become a "perfect for PhysX" edition
 
S

SSChevy2001

Senior member
Jul 9, 2008
774
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Nvidia still hasn't change their FAQ page, so it's more then likely just a mistake that the restriction isn't present.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_faq.html

Can I use an NVIDIA GPU as a PhysX processor and a non-NVIDIA GPU for regular display graphics?
No. There are multiple technical connections between PhysX processing and graphics that require tight collaboration between the two technologies. To deliver a good experience for users, NVIDIA PhysX technology has been fully verified and enabled using only NVIDIA GPUs for graphics.
Click to expand...
 
L

lavaheadache

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2005
6,893
14
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Very nice.... Now I may need to get a board with a third pci-e slot to go along with the crossfired 5870's in my rig =)
 
H

HurleyBird

Platinum Member
Apr 22, 2003
2,800
1,528
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SSChevy2001 said:
Nvidia still hasn't change their FAQ page, so it's more then likely just a mistake that the restriction isn't present.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_faq.html
Click to expand...

Or maybe that page hasn't been updated yet. The WHQL drivers still have the restriction after all.

In any case, assuming that this change is permanent, hopefully we'll see developers actually start to use PhysX in more and meaningful ways.
 
V

v8envy

Platinum Member
Sep 7, 2002
2,720
0
0
On one hand NV has a massive inventory of the low end 2 and 3 series GPUs people aren't lining up to buy. Their partners have been force-fed the entry level cards in order to produce Fermi and are probably not too happy about it, so this move makes sense.

On the other hand, who cares. Really. PhysX is less relevant by the day. Why put in another power sucking piece of hardware to enable physx? The power & heat advantages of an ATI solution vanish completely when you add in a second card for physx, anyone needing that feature should simply buy a high end NV card in the first place.
 
Daedalus685

Daedalus685

Golden Member
Nov 12, 2009
1,386
1
0
solofly said:
With greedy dishonest arrogant nvidia you never know...
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What force in the universe could stand up to your adjective cannon?!

/cower



:rolleyes: At least we have loons on both sides of the fence here, keeps it entertaining.

I for one am excited if this is true, I didn't want to have to bother with 'hacking' physX with my 4890s.
 
M

Martimus

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2007
4,490
157
106
Does nVidia also have a seperate "just PhysX" driver, than their regular graphics driver? I am still a little wary about installing both sets of display drivers, as I don't know how well they play together.

I'll have to look into this more before I build my computer. A cheap nVidia card might work well with a 5870 for PhysX. Although as IDC stated, I don't trust nVidia whatsoever when it comes to future support, since they have shown that they are very selective in what they will support. Although I can overlook that if the cost of the card is low enough.
 
brybir

brybir

Senior member
Jun 18, 2009
241
0
0
v8envy said:
On the other hand, who cares. Really. PhysX is less relevant by the day. Why put in another power sucking piece of hardware to enable physx? The power & heat advantages of an ATI solution vanish completely when you add in a second card for physx, anyone needing that feature should simply buy a high end NV card in the first place.
Click to expand...


It does bring up an interesting point...namely...how much would you or anyone else pay for PhysX. I see people retaining 8800GT's and such when they upgrade for PhysX, which means they value that between $50 and $100.

I'll be honest and state that I do not value PhysX and would not pay more to have that feature, but I would be interested to see how much people would pay for it if given the choice (by adding a 2nd card to their system).
 
Daedalus685

Daedalus685

Golden Member
Nov 12, 2009
1,386
1
0
brybir said:
It does bring up an interesting point...namely...how much would you or anyone else pay for PhysX. I see people retaining 8800GT's and such when they upgrade for PhysX, which means they value that between $50 and $100.

I'll be honest and state that I do not value PhysX and would not pay more to have that feature, but I would be interested to see how much people would pay for it if given the choice (by adding a 2nd card to their system).
Click to expand...

I'm not sure... I bet there is a very large number of folks that retain an old 8800gt for use with it that would never even dream of buying a 'new' dedicated card for $50.

Most people do not sell off old parts, they give them to family or scrap them.

I myself would quite happily buy something like a gt240 for physX. We will see though... I'm still struggling with getting the perfect system together for it, lol.

I don't think PhysX is really all that great... but if a game looks better with it I'd pay for it just like I will pay to upgrade in order to maintain at least 4xAA. Game play related physics or not.
 
Meghan54

Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
11,684
5,225
136
bunnyfubbles said:
well, if its a permanent thing we'll undoubtedly start seeing some of these cards specifically marketed for PhysX.

A passively cooled "green" edition of a card could easily become a "perfect for PhysX" edition
Click to expand...


EVGA is already marketing their GT 240 as that:

An EVGA GeForce GT 240 makes a great dedicated PhysX card!
Click to expand...

http://www.evga.com/articles/00552/

(Watch out, though, a YouTube video starts up when you go to that page.)
 
T

thilanliyan

Lifer
Jun 21, 2005
12,040
2,254
126
I have a spare 8800GT I could use...but the drivers didn't always play nice (nV control panel would crash every time) when I tried it before. I seriously doubt this stance will continue on into the future as IDC questioned. I'm guessing once the channel pressures fade, or GPU PhysX actually starts to be used in more games it will be back to the status quo. I'm glad they've opened it up but this means it will probably take even longer for an "open" physics API to take off.
 
R

Ryan Smith

The New Boss
Staff member
Oct 22, 2005
537
117
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www.anandtech.com
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