What's the point of using a second card for physx?

[Rubycon]

I tried several tests using a GTX 480 as the display card and a GTX 280 for physx. Honestly it does not seem any faster - in some parts it does (using 280 for physx).

Is it because the 480 is already fast to begin with?

Does the 2nd card get utilized that much (aka draw high power) like it would if it were the primary adapter? I have a 2GB GTX 285 that I can use for physx as well.

If the above is true than people using 9800s for physx on 470/480 systems are essentially milking bulls?!

 

[MJinZ]

Offloading the PhysX work to another card (minimum 9800 GT/250 GTS, and ideally GTX 260+) is will definitely yield good boosts if you're running Hardware PhysX.

However, the GTX 480 is either powerful enough to handle PhysX on its own (unlikely) or the drivers are not good enough to utilize the GTX 480 to its potential.

 

[lavaheadache]

what have you tried it with?

Cryostasis and mirrors edge benefited greatly by using an add 9600GT with a GTX280 back when I was rocking that setup.

 

[Rubycon]

Nvidia physix demos mostly.

I can put a 285 primary and 280 together and see if there is a big difference.

 

[MJinZ]

Well bench 285 primary, and then 285 + PhysX and see what the % difference is.

 

[ViRGE]

AT took a quick look at this in their GTX 480 review. In Batman: AA, the performance hit from the High PhysX mode is 47% for 1 card, and even worse at ~60% for an SLI configuration. So there's definitely a performance improvement to be found if you can dedicate a card to PhysX.

 

[bleucharm28]

So i currently own a GTX 260, if i were to upgrade to ATi 58X0 card; i can use my 260 as a physX card. Or will there be no difference?
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[Sylvanas]

So i currently own a GTX 260, if i were to upgrade to ATi 58X0 card; i can use my 260 as a physX card. Or will there be no difference?|

No, Nvidia won't let you.

 

[Worthington]

Did you modify the drivers Rubycon? I don't think that the drivers that support the 4xx series currently support any of the older cards. So while your 280 is in there, it's not actually doing any physics calculations. Apparently the way around it is to add in the older card into the drivers ini file.

some people are having luck by re-installing the drivers multiple times. It's hit or miss though from what I can tell.

 

[Rubycon]

Did you modify the drivers Rubycon? I don't think that the drivers that support the 4xx series currently support any of the older cards. So while your 280 is in there, it's not actually doing any physics calculations. Apparently the way around it is to add in the older card into the drivers ini file.

some people are having luck by re-installing the drivers multiple times. It's hit or miss though from what I can tell.

No changes - just selected 280 from the drop down menu in PhysX configuration. Since I could not really tell any change it's probably not using it!?

I suppose adding more 480s can't hurt either.

 

[Worthington]

cool. I know a lot of people had trouble getting anything but a 4 series recognized in the newer drivers. The Evga forums have a lot of suggestions but looks like you're good to go

 

[soccerballtux]

Offloading the PhysX work to another card (minimum 9800 GT/250 GTS, and ideally GTX 260+) is will definitely yield good boosts if you're running Hardware PhysX.

However, the GTX 480 is either powerful enough to handle PhysX on its own (unlikely) or the drivers are not good enough to utilize the GTX 480 to its potential.

and yet it does nothing for suspension of disbelief...which is what engages us in games...which is what makes them fun...which means that PhysX does nothing....

 

[Keysplayr]

and yet it does nothing for suspension of disbelief...which is what engages us in games...which is what makes them fun...which means that PhysX does nothing....

I think this thread is more geared toward the performance increases found when utilizing a second Nvidia GPU for PhysX. Not what your opinion OF GPU based PhysX apparently is.