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Opinion - Nvidia for PhysX or ATI?

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apoppin said:
Arkham City is the next PhysX showcase. i am looking forward to see what it brings.
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http://uk.geforce.com/games-applications/pc-games/batman-arkham-city/description

Headlining the feature list is a number of PhysX-powered visual effects that add extra immersion and physicality to scenes. As seen in our screenshots, areas are enhanced with destructible surfaces, making it appear that the attacks of Batman and his foes are physically affecting the environments; extra particles are generated when characters strike surfaces with force; dense fog and smoke moves and parts realistically as characters and objects interact with it; cloth, rugs and other scene elements react similarly; glass, debris and other destructible objects deform accurately and with added detail; and in general there are more particles and more objects on the ground, in the air, and on characters, all of which can be interacted with in some way.
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Physx is pretty low on my list of important features when considering video cards. I'd put the comparatively lower power consumption and better crossfire scaling as more important than Physx.
 
3D vision needs vsync to run; that alone is a deal breaker for me. That and the numerous visual quality compromises needed for games, even those rated excellent.

Then there’s the use of TN monitors which exhibit visible color shifting unless you’re sitting straight on. It gets worse the bigger the display is.

Of course these facts often seem to be overlooked.

As for PhysX, the first thing I do after installing a new nVidia driver is to disable hardware acceleration in the control panel. I need my graphics card to render graphics effects, not to render superficial objects.
 
BFG10K said:
That and the numerous visual quality compromises needed for games, even those rated excellent.
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This is what kills 3D, either movies or games for me. I don't like wearing those 3D glasses. They are uncomfortable, and dims the picture. In games, you are limited currently to TN panel monitors, which as BFD10K mentions, have worse color shifting.
 
I have a PhysX capable nVidia graphics card. I do not use PhysX in any of the few games I play (well, played, to be more accurate) that supported it. Personally, it did not feature in my decision to buy this card, and it will not impact my decisions in the future.
 
tincart said:
I have a PhysX capable nVidia graphics card. I do not use PhysX in any of the few games I play (well, played, to be more accurate) that supported it. Personally, it did not feature in my decision to buy this card, and it will not impact my decisions in the future.
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You never know.
 
tincart said:
I have a PhysX capable nVidia graphics card. I do not use PhysX in any of the few games I play (well, played, to be more accurate) that supported it. Personally, it did not feature in my decision to buy this card, and it will not impact my decisions in the future.
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Yeah this sums it up. It's a worthless feature.
 
tincart said:
You know less about my future intentions than I do, so I'll take my judgment over yours.
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Okay okay. Don't get testy. It just sounds like no matter what PhysX in games ever offers in the future, you will not like it. Hey, you know yourself better than anyone, but I fail to see how you can come to that conclusion based on future (as in yet to happen) events. :thumbsup:
 
Keysplayr said:
It just sounds like no matter what PhysX in games ever offers in the future, you will not like it.
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I'm not denying that there is a possible future where PhysX suddenly turns out to be a super-amazing feature. If that were the case, it would become a factor in purchasing decisions. However, I see absolutely no evidence, right now, that such a possible future is at all likely. I base my own guesses about my future preferences on what I know and believe right now and what I think to be probable in the future. I do not base my guesses about my future preferences on abstruse alternative possibilities that I rate as significantly less likely.

Clear enough?
 
Personally take each title separate and examine what the developers try to do to improve immersion. My favorites have been the advanced fluid effects for the D-gun in Dark Void and the real time fluid simulation effects in Alice.

Was playing Just Cause 2 this morning and enjoyed the content from Havok in that title as well.
 
I enjoy PhysX in games, as long as it's implemented correctly. Examples of good implementations are Batman AA, Mafia 2, Alice 2 etc..

Batman AA is probably the best, because there is a noticeable change in the atmosphere of the game with physx enabled. Playing Batman AA with PhysX on and off are very different experiences. The game feels lacking and empty with PhysX turned off.

Metro 2033 also uses PhysX to good effect, but the implementation wasn't extensive enough imo. Still, the rigid body physics and the explosions are some of the best in any game. In Metro 2033, shrapnel from an explosion will kill or injure Artyom if you're standing in the wrong place.

Hopefully, Metro Last Light's implementation will be much better, and from this video, it seems like it will be. Lots of cloth simulation in the train shootout.

Batman AC will undoubtedly be amazing, as there's so much they can do with a game like that, and Rocksteady and Nvidia have had plenty of time to do a really awesome implementation unlike the first game.
 
tincart said:
I'm not denying that there is a possible future where PhysX suddenly turns out to be a super-amazing feature. If that were the case, it would become a factor in purchasing decisions. However, I see absolutely no evidence, right now, that such a possible future is at all likely. I base my own guesses about my future preferences on what I know and believe right now and what I think to be probable in the future. I do not base my guesses about my future preferences on abstruse alternative possibilities that I rate as significantly less likely.

Clear enough?
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As mud, yes. But that's just me. 🙂
 
FIRESTORM007 said:
I don't think he meant anything by it. He was just trying to be helpful. You do never really know. 😛
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It's within the realm of possibility that dedicated PPU's might, for some reason, become big again. Am I going to make that a factor in my future purchasing decisions? Nope. Simply stating that something is possible means exactly nothing unless you tell me why it is also relevant to my interests.

And I'm sure he's trying to be helpful. Not helpful to me. But helpful to someone, sure.
 
Keysplayr said:
You never know.
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Really? Well in that case you never know if nvidia goes belly up and no one is interested in the IP and the hardware goes unsupported for windows 8 beyond crippled 2D only drivers. Pretty much equally likely/logical of a statement (as in 0% chance BTW). As the unbiased contributors have mentioned, target the best bang/buck you can hit in your target price and power envelope and consider whatever extra features (eyefinity/cuda...ect) you get a nice little bonus that will never likely be utilized in a significant manner.
 
The context to me, is if one closes their mind to never using the feature now and in the future, you never know, PhysX could improve over time and some implementation may be appealing. That's all that was meant to me, imho.

It's up to nVidia improving their tool sets and have to innovate more to change some minds to me.
 
nismotigerwvu said:
Really? Well in that case you never know if nvidia goes belly up and no one is interested in the IP and the hardware goes unsupported for windows 8 beyond crippled 2D only drivers. Pretty much equally likely/logical of a statement (as in 0% chance BTW). As the unbiased contributors have mentioned, target the best bang/buck you can hit in your target price and power envelope and consider whatever extra features (eyefinity/cuda...ect) you get a nice little bonus that will never likely be utilized in a significant manner.
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Now you tell me. What is more realistic in this particular discussion?
Improvements in PhysX content in the future, or Nvidia going belly up?
Either way, we are still talking about the future and nobody knows. Not a soul.
I was just a little surprised that Tincart made a comment like that. It was an awkward thing to read, and when I said so, was met with a bit of hostility in his response. Go Figure. I didn't think he had an axe to grind or anything, and I really didn't mean anything by saying "You never know". I didn't presume to know what tincart thinks now, but I do presume to know that even he doesn't know what he'll think in the future about future events. That's really all.
 
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