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

[Idontcare]

lulz, NV punked you bitches good

 

[ahenkel]

So just keep using the beta driver and you're golden right. I mean I have a spare 8800gt that should pair with my 5770 nicely. Granted all I have in Mirrors Edge to try this with.

 

[Qbah]

This is great news if nVidia will stick with the decision. Let's hope they do! Would allow a lot of people to get a green card for PhysX only and would somewhat help PhysX to expand.

Though I'd still say devs should use things both camps support out of the box.

EDIT: lol a bug? Oh well, at least you can use this newest driver for now, I guess?

 

[Phynaz]

Hi guys;

I just got off of the phone with NVIDIA about this issue. It's a bug. The GPU-PhysX block wasn't meant to be disabled, and it will be back in place for the next driver.



http://www.anandtech.com/show/3744/...terogeneous-gpu-physx-its-a-bug-not-a-feature

What do I win?

 

[Idontcare]

What do I win?

4 u

 

[HurleyBird]

Well, there goes any chance for broad PhysX adoption again.

Let the Nvidia hate begin again...

 

[Martimus]

At least this news saves me some money. I won't have any reason to buy an nVidia card now.

 

[Daedalus685]

Wow,

That is pretty awesome right there... I wonder how dark the glasses Nvidia PhysX PR has to wear are...

Oh well, at least there is a relatively up to date beta driver to use now... and hopefully the hack will still work when mafia2 comes out...

 

[thilanliyan]

Status quo it is.

What beta driver is it anyway that contains the bug? 257.15/256?

 

[Voo]

It's sad when a feature working is a bug

:/

 

[CurseTheSky]

A bug? That seems like a pretty big deal to just let slip. Provided they were only beta drivers, but...

I wonder if this was some kind of secret plot by Nvidia to gauge interest (AKA sales figures) if they did release Physx unrestricted into the wild. Stir up the community and wait a few weeks to see how much buzz there is going around the 'net (and how many driver downloads they receive).

I'd personally buy a $50-70ish card if it made a difference.

 

[JSt0rm]

I got excited for a minute... oh well.

 

[evolucion8]

I just downloaded the driver and saw that the digital signature was signed on May 22, so I doubt that they changed the driver yet.

 

[thilanliyan]

I just downloaded the driver and saw that the digital signature was signed on May 22, so I doubt that they changed the driver yet.

Is it the beta 256/257.15 driver?

 

[Genx87]

Thatis too bad. I think Nvidia is missing out on an opportunity to enhance PhysX adoption rates.

 

[BD231]

What a tease.

At least NVidia lets ATI users live their lives oblivious to Phys-X capabilities. In this case what you don't know doesn't hurt you in the least. I mean, it's not like they're actually missing out on anything.

 

[veri745]

This is a huge disappointment to me.

If Nvidia is really so damn worried about (potential/hypothetical) compatibility issues with PhysX running with an ATI card in the system, why not just always release the beta drivers without the PhysX block and release WHQL driver with it included?

This would solve all of the potential complaints if it does break at some point or for certain configurations, and I think a lot of people would be really happy to buy an extra Nvidia card for PhysX.

This being said, I'm sure they won't do that, and I am also content to wait until DirectCompute becomes mainstream so I don't have to pick a side in the GPU wars.

 

[taltamir]

nvidia can take its physX and stick it where the sun doesn't shine. I am hugely disappointed in them!

 

[Attic]

At first I was like :awe:, then I was like .

nVidia's handling of physx is one of my biggest gripes against them.


I'd rather have a core of my CPU dedicated to Physx and let my GPU pump out as many pixels as it can though. Physx dropping performance in gameplay has never been a big selling point to me. Aegia was a failure, physx is/has been a failure,... i'm not buying into the dedicated card need for physics hype.

 

[taltamir]

At first I was like :awe:, then I was like .

nVidia's handling of physx is one of my biggest gripes against them.


I'd rather have a core of my CPU dedicated to Physx and let my GPU pump out as many pixels as it can though. Physx dropping performance in gameplay has never been a big selling point to me. Aegia was a failure, physx is/has been a failure,... i'm not buying into the dedicated card need for physics hype.

if we had some first order physics instead of just worthless extra particle effects you could benefit from a dedicated card, but nvidia's mishandling of the tech means it will never happen.

 

[Cogman]

It makes me wonder why nvidia is playing this game. When someone releases a proprietary API/hardware feature, usually to goal is to get as many people as possible to use said feature. It seems like artificially limiting the number of people capable of using your feature is somewhat, backwards.

Once you get mass adoption, THAT is the time to artificially limit, not before. Seems like a poor move fiscally to me.

 

[MagickMan]

I have the drivers, if I put my 8800GT in my X48 machine (I have two 16X PCI-E slots) will it work? Just wondering if I should even bother.

 

[evolucion8]

Is it the beta 256/257.15 driver?

Yes.

 

[blanketyblank]

nvm just saw the previous message about it being a bug.
Man NV sure has some great bugs recently. Makes me wonder how many features they are purposely disabling.

 

[taltamir]

Makes sense to me. NVidia knows they won't have enough high end DX11 cards out for a while so they might as well make some money off of people with ATI DX11 cards who want PhysX in the meantime.

I just hope the restrictions don't come back once their manufacturing capabilities improve.

but all they are doing is driving people away from nvidia, losing potential customers for their older stock, and driving people away from physX....

The only thing I can think of is that they are absolutely certain that physX will take over, and are afraid that if they wait until physX does take over to implement such a system they would be penalized by world governments for anti-competitive business practices (eg: MS with their IE thing)
Maybe the think they if they pull this kind of thing from day 1, then nobody would notice...

however, this seems utterly preposterous.. just not AS preposterous as them pulling this kind of move BEFORE achieving high physX market penetration...
You need a monopoly to pull this kind of junk, nVidia is trying to pretend physX gave it a monopoly on the gaming market and abuse it when instead they are crushing their fledging tech.