Nvidia Physx and SLI Questions

johntmssf

New member
i have an AMD processor and am wanting to get Nvidia graphics cards (particularly the 570) and have often heard that in order to get the full performance out of physx you need a dedicated physx card. first off is this true? and second if it is worth spending another 350 bucks for on another card, does the dedicated physx card have to be in SLI with the primary card (which would of course mean that t would be incompatible with my computer) or could they just be two completely independent cards on one motherboard
 
No a dedicated physx card doesn't have to be in SLI with your other card. However if you buy a 570 I wouldn't say that you need a dedicated physx card. Especially not a 570 as a physx card. The single 570 will be more than capable of doing that aswell.
 
Hello,

Having a second card dedicated to PhysX obviously improves the performance. Mafia 2 runs well with maxed-out settings with a GTX 480 and a GTS 250 for PhysX. 480 on its own doing the PhysX too struggles and the 570 will too, probably. Lowering the settings to minimum may improve the result though the 480 struggled to process the Mafia 2 PhysX at it's minimum setting wich is medium. If the GPU struggles to process the PhysX everything else is throttled, restricted, because it is a bottleneck effect. In some senarios the GTX 570 performs closely to the GTX 480 and I don't believe it can give a satisfactory result for Mafia 2 maxed-out, on it's own.

The GTX 460 is a pokey card and is about 10 quid more for a cheap one compared to an average new GTS 250. That'll do. More is more

Thanks
tongue.gif
biggrin.gif
 
Hello,

Having a second card dedicated to PhysX obviously improves the performance. Mafia 2 runs well with maxed-out settings with a GTX 480 and a GTS 250 for PhysX. 480 on its own doing the PhysX too struggles and the 570 will too, probably. Lowering the settings to minimum may improve the result though the 480 struggled to process the Mafia 2 PhysX at it's minimum setting wich is medium. If the GPU struggles to process the PhysX everything else is throttled, restricted, because it is a bottleneck effect. In some senarios the GTX 570 performs closely to the GTX 480 and I don't believe it can give a satisfactory result for Mafia 2 maxed-out, on it's own.

The GTX 460 is a pokey card and is about 10 quid more for a cheap one compared to an average new GTS 250. That'll do. More is more

Thanks
tongue.gif
biggrin.gif

The point that I was trying to make was that he will see a greater improvement in overall gameplay if he is running those 2 570s in SLI rather than running one only for Physx. I do agree that something like a 460 is more appropriate for Physx and will give better results than a SINGLE 570, but with two 570 in SLI it won't.
 
TBH, generally anything over 60fps you won't noticed. Having a dedicated physX card will see an improvement over 2 570s in sli configuration. But are you really worried about not getting 100fps.

In games where you get under 60 then i would look into getting a physx card. otherwise its a waste and i wouldn't do it. Having the extra heat, noise and power cosumtion isn't worth the extra couple fps you won't noticed
 
TBH, generally anything over 60fps you won't noticed. Having a dedicated physX card will see an improvement over 2 570s in sli configuration. But are you really worried about not getting 100fps.

In games where you get under 60 then i would look into getting a physx card. otherwise its a waste and i wouldn't do it. Having the extra heat, noise and power cosumtion isn't worth the extra couple fps you won't noticed

2 570's in SLI are plenty for PhysX and graphics. A dedicated card will do nothing unless you are running extreme resolutions across multiple monitors.
 
If you're thinking of 570 sli get a 580 and a 768 460 as a dedicated PhysX. Put the 460 on top, put the fan to 49% and get it folding when you're not using it for PhysX and clock the living freak out of both of them.
 
2 570's in SLI are plenty for PhysX and graphics. A dedicated card will do nothing unless you are running extreme resolutions across multiple monitors.

I understand but OP said full performance. Meaning one of the 570 would be have to be a dedicated physX
 
I understand but OP said full performance. Meaning one of the 570 would be have to be a dedicated physX

No it wouldn't. You wouldn't gain anything by setting one of the 570s to dedicated PhysX. There is enough horsepower there with the two 570s in SLI to do both the graphics and the PhysX. Unless, like I said, you were running some insane resolutions.
 
If you're thinking of 570 sli get a 580 and a 768 460 as a dedicated PhysX. Put the 460 on top, put the fan to 49% and get it folding when you're not using it for PhysX and clock the living freak out of both of them.

Hello,

What does folding mean? the term is used in the sentence I quoted.

I read that Mafia 2 uses CPU for PhysX when SLI is working. OK. I wasn't aware of that. I'd believe PhysX is enhanced for the CUDA electronics. I looked at the Nvidia settings, my cards are in SLI and I apply'd auto select PhysX processor and it's chosen GPU 1 and kept the SLI working.

mm I like the 580 OC'd+460 idea
smile.gif
. he could wait and save for the 580x2 card (IS IT GONA SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY?)and run a 460 now, then dedicate it to PhysX

Thanks
 
Well for a detailed explanation I'd follow the following link: F@H Wiki but basically what happens is you get sent a bunch of data, your computer unravels the mistery behind it and sends back the results. Quoted from wiki: The goal of the project is "to understand protein folding, misfolding, and related diseases." Probably the best thing to do it ever is the Nvidia CUDA gpus.
 
Hello,sa

Thanks for that info Todd.

Mum gave me the 9800gt today, a christmas present. It is dedicated to PhysX. I ran two PhysX enabeled benchmarks with max PhysX settings: Mafia 2 and Metro 2033. Using MSI afterburner I monitored the 9800 GT usage.

Max usage results:

Mafia 2: 74%

Metro 2033: 22%

Estimated average usage:

Mafia 2: 30-40%

Metro 2033: 10%

I made a review for the 9800gt APEX PhysX for Mafia 2 performance with/without SLI. It's on the members reviews section at the top of the forum.

Thanks
 
I would stick to amd+ati. And you can still crossfire if you go with the ati option. Also ati+amd are said to run better together.
 
Back
Top