Supreme Cmdr Report post Posted May 11, 2006 Well, with any luck (and they'll need LOTS of it), Aegia's PhysX HW card will revolutionize hardware accelerated physics in much the same way Adlib first revolutionized HW based audio. ...at least thats the plan. But... Naturally, the likes of nVida (with their Havoc partnership) and ATI (on their own) are touting similar accelerated physics on their GPUs. Who will win? I tell you what. If nVidia and ATI perform better and/or comparable to PhysX, that board is history. The nVidia solution apparently only works with Havoc based games. Considering the cost of that engine license, it is only used by top tier publishers with multi-million dollar budget titles. We're still waiting to see if ATI's solution is general purpose and not require and additional layer, as in the case of nVidia + Havoc combo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weegee_101 Report post Posted May 12, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: We're still waiting to see if ATI's solution is general purpose and not require and additional layer, as in the case of nVidia + Havoc combo. Yeah, but doesn't the PhysX require an additional layer in the application as well? My understanding is that games have to be PhysX compatible for you to get any improvement. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Zwycky Report post Posted May 12, 2006 Well, if the PhysX chip really takes off, then your investment in the reality engine is going to to be an even more awesome one, SC. Hopefully the picture will be pretty clear by the time critical decisions on this issue have to be made for BCNG. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supreme Cmdr Report post Posted May 12, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Cmdr. WeeGee: quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: We're still waiting to see if ATI's solution is general purpose and not require and additional layer, as in the case of nVidia + Havoc combo. Yeah, but doesn't the PhysX require an additional layer in the application as well? My understanding is that games have to be PhysX compatible for you to get any improvement. Physx uses the Novadex (which Aegia owns) physics sdk which is free to developers. Havoc is third-party licensed physics sdk which costs tons. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weegee_101 Report post Posted May 14, 2006 quote:Originally posted by Supreme Cmdr: Physx uses the Novadex (which Aegia owns) physics sdk which is free to developers. Havoc is third-party licensed physics sdk which costs tons. Ahh, that makes sense. Does it work without the Physx card? I can't see why people would continue to use Havok if a solution thats on par with in addition to being free. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben Zwycky Report post Posted May 14, 2006 costs money for the developer, but only requires a decent shader model 3.0 card to run, which most gamers already have. It's all going to come down to relative performance. Free for the developer being a strategy for selling their cards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supreme Cmdr Report post Posted May 17, 2006 Anandtech dissects the PhysX card Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Supreme Cmdr Report post Posted June 2, 2006 Oh dear. The PhysX sham Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cutterjohn Report post Posted June 13, 2006 BTW: There is an open source physics API, Open Dynamics Engine which was apparently used in the Russian Hard Truck: Apocalypse game, and Bloodrayne. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
