Is a PPU worth getting at this point?

cybereality

cybereality

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Hey, I'm building a new rig and I figured I'd add a Physx card since they are pretty cheap now (a little over $100 with a rebate). But is the PPU really worth getting at this point? I know that CUDA and the GPU physics solutions are supposedly coming, but they are not out yet. I definitely want the best physics possible in games, even if it is just a marginal but noticeable gain. As long as there are one or two major games that are improved its worth the money to me.

I've looked at some benchmarks but I'm more interested in the real-world experience with the product. So can anyone share what there is to like about the dedicated Physx card?

Also, some of the reviewers on new-egg claim that the PPU somehow speeds up games that don't support it. This makes no sense to me, but whats the deal with that? Is there any truth there? Thanks.
 
I would think save your money and upgrade the video card or some other component... maybe get more ram.
 
Fuck NO, save your cash and buy something you will actually get to use, hooker spring's to mind as you will get more use and enjoyment out of that than you will a physx card, and yes I was stupid enough to pony up for one back in the day.
 
Asssuming nvidia really doesn't abandon the PPU and the PPU does take off, then I think it'd be ok, otherwise no.
 
No...

Here are a few reason why would anyone get one.

-As a novelty item.
-You really have to fill your PCI slots.
-You're a tech whore and you buy everything only when it's dirt cheap.
-You want to buy one at 50$ on eBay just to make your co-worker look dumb after spending 299$ on his in 2006!
-You use MAYA
-You still use SOFTIMAGE XSI
-You play GRAW 1&2 4hrs/day
 
Well, I'm building a new rig so its not like I'm choosing between a PPU or a GPU. I'm planning on running the 9800GTX in SLI.

If it works in Maya and XSI, then I'm sold. That was all I needed to hear.

I also like novelty items, still got a P5 data glove sitting on my desk for show. ;)
 
cybereality said:
Well, I'm building a new rig so its not like I'm choosing between a PPU or a GPU. I'm planning on running the 9800GTX in SLI.

If it works in Maya and XSI, then I'm sold. That was all I needed to hear.

I also like novelty items, still got a P5 data glove sitting on my desk for show. ;)
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LOL I thought I was the only sucker who purchased that glove, they made more than one? :D
 
Ehhh.. There are reasons to buy one and not to buy one..

If you're going with an ATI card or NOT buying the newest, latest, and greatest nVidia GPUs that are SUPPOSED to have the PhysX stuff built in, then it might be worth it if more companies start using the code.. I bought one because I have two 8800GTs in SLI mode, and don't plan on moving up to the 9000 series anytime soon.. There are quite a few games I play that support it, so, it was worth it for me..

However, if you check the list of supported games, it's not large, and it doesn't seem like many companies are really working on much that has the PhysX code in it.. Also, like I said above, the 9000 series GPUs from nVidia are supposed to contain a PPU, though I have yet to see anything official..
 
Make sure your MOBO can support the extra slots. With those 2 slot 9800's running SLI and a sound card, you may be in a tight spot if you have a firewire card or anything.
 
Rocksta107 said:
Make sure your MOBO can support the extra slots. With those 2 slot 9800's running SLI and a sound card, you may be in a tight spot if you have a firewire card or anything.
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Yeah, I just realized that. I'm probably just gonna ditch the sound card and use the 780i on-board HD audio, should be fine for my 2.0 speakers.
 
Until game makers and NVidia start to hype PhysX again and the results are good, its a waste of money.
When it comes free with NVidias cards I wont complain but unless you have another use for a PPU other than gaming, it is a waste of cash, a PCI slot and electricity (hence deteriorates your PSU faster).
 
You can find 4GB RAM kits for ~$100 these days. Drop the cash on one of those, get yourself a 64-bit OS, and enjoy.
 
Well, against all the descending remarks, I ended up buying a PPU. At first I thought maybe I got scammed, but after tweaking things and running some benchmarks I'm pretty happy with it. Sure, it doesn't work with a lot of games, but when it does work there is a clear difference as to what its doing. I'm beginning to think that a lot of a naysayers either never had a PhysX card or saw some bogus benchmarks and took it for fact (you know what I'm talking about!).

Had I paid $300 for it I probably would have been disappointed, but for $120 it seems like its holding its weight.
 
I've got money to play around with, so earlier this year I bought a Killer NIC and a PPU.

While the PPU doesn't do more for me than improve a synthetic benchmark score (I still don't own a game that uses the darn thing), the Killer actually SLOWS down my normal download speed. I don't know if I got a bad card or what, but I've RMAed and troubleshot the crap out of the Killer, and I'm tired of wasting time with it.

At least with the PPU I can plug it in, see it works, and let it be. No NIC is worth spending the amount of time I have in trying to get the Killer to work properly.

I don't do a lot of online gaming, but if Killer at least functioned as well as my onboard NIC for throughput and latency, then I would keep it in there just for the hell of it. But it doesn't seem to work that well when compared to a regular onboard NIC, and if it can't do that... well I choose the PPU. At least the PPU isn't taking away from my computer. It may not be adding to it, either, but I AM a slot whore who wants my slots filled at any price.
 
Well, holy crap! I just tried one last installation attempt of the 3rd network card I've received from Bigfoot Networks, and whatever combination of software voodoo I performed worked.

It actually has the same throughput as my onboard NIC! For only about 100 manhours of extra troubleshooting and lost productivity! Woohoo!
 
Balthazor said:
Well, holy crap! I just tried one last installation attempt of the 3rd network card I've received from Bigfoot Networks, and whatever combination of software voodoo I performed worked.

It actually has the same throughput as my onboard NIC! For only about 100 manhours of extra troubleshooting and lost productivity! Woohoo!
Click to expand...

I always skeptical about the Killer NIC anyhow. Simply because the lag is on the server-side, not the client-side. For anyone that has played a LAN game, this is patently obvious.
 
killer NIC is actually a pretty good peice of hardware. It works really well for online games like WoW once you configure it. I haven't tried it yet but you can also run ventrillo on its on board processor.
 
FlyinBrian said:
killer NIC is actually a pretty good peice of hardware. It works really well for online games like WoW once you configure it. I haven't tried it yet but you can also run ventrillo on its on board processor.
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Yeah, I've read a bit about it. I know its not bunk, but there is only so much it can do. I was considering picking it up until I saw the price. If it were like $50-60 then maybe that would be different.
 
Although I should point out that a discussion of the Killer NIC in this thread is waaaay off topic, the OP is commenting, so does that make it ok?

I don't think the Killer NIC is bogus... there are too many reviews that support its claims of at least some tangible gain - if not in ping, at least in an increase in FPS due to cpu offloading. But I really wish it was better documented.

For instance, once you delve into the different forum posts, reviews, and white papers, you learn that although it does TCP checksum offloading (which nforce onboard NICs do anyway), it also processes a significant amount of UDP information (more than just the checksum, I'm not sure how much.) UDP is the protocol used by some games (notably WoW) which is why WoW sees a FPS improvement.

But not all games are UDP based (notably Age of Conan, which is TCP.) It would be nice to have some documentation as far as which games are better suited (or 'supported') in the NIC's configuration.

The interesting thing is that the card has a linux processor AND a field-programmable gate array, which means that with some clever coding they can tweak the hell out of the thing, perhaps significantly adding or changing its capabilities.

One thing that bothers me is that their forum techs recommend putting a killer-equipped computer on your network's DMZ, and just use the firewall that resides on the Killer without any software-based firewall. This would mean your Killer firewall is your sole line of defense, which means it is going to have to be pretty reliable. But they then go on to state that you have to open up certain firewall ports for file sharing if you are on your own LAN... which means those same ports are exposed to external attacks. When I asked about this on their forums I didn't get an answer, and the whole idea makes me a little nervous. I mean, aren't file sharing ports some of the more commonly attacked ports?

But even with the FPS improvement and disregarded the lack of solid documentation, and as most reviews state, it probably isn't worth the cost. If I were on any kind of budget I wouldn't have gotten it, but I wanted to play around with it. Boy was it tough to get working properly!

Ironically, although I purchased the card about six months ago, my WoW craze has subsided completely and I'm now playing single-player games almost exclusively. My wife thanks me.
 
Just a quick test:

Half-Life Lost Coast via Steam (if not noted all other system specs are as in my sig):

w/ Aegia PPU in my PCI slot, BIOS PCI latency set to 128: 98 FPS

w/ Killer NIC in my PCI slot, BIOS PCI latency set to 64: 104 FPS

Changed the PCI latency based on a Bigfoot Networks (Killer NIC manufacturers) recommendation.

Yes I realize the PPU isn't doing anything for this demo, I'm just noting it because it was in the PCI slot instead of the Killer. A better test would have been without the PPU.

And I hate to use subjective comparisons, but I also loaded up Warcraft 3 - and the Blizzard.net loading interfaces did 'feel' faster when navigating around prior to gameplay. I didn't actually play a game - Warcraft 3 isn't a laggy game anyway.

I'd test WoW, but its off my system for the time being. Marital preservation.
 
Yeah, I'm sorry about taking the post OT with my comment. I didn't mean to rag on the KillerNIC card. But, IMO, its just not worth the money. At least the PPU offers some features you cannot get elsewhere (like cloth physics). That Killer NIC card maybe might net you a couple extra FPS in games where you are getting well in the 100FPS range to begin with. I just don't see the point. Maybe if you are pro are something, but just look at the reviews. Its not anything to write home about. Aside from a couple of games (CS:S, etc.) and the cool looking knife thing attached to the card, I don't see much use in buying it. But many people feel the same way about the PhysX PPU so to each his own.

Just FYI: I ran the stress test in the HL2: Lost Coast demo last night (total coincidence) and I got 201 FPS! Yeah baby!
 
The ppu is kinda like intel's turbo memory module for laptops, it's rather useless...well, if Physics was on the pci x1 bus and more applications took advantage of physics ita be useful. Hell i'd shell out some extra money if it really helped me out in crysis more than another graphics card would..
 
PPU in Maya? Can some one provide a linky???

If I can get one for the cheap I definetley would get one if it helps render times in Maya.
 
Bah it only does simulations.. Not interested. I prefer my own animation. Plus most dynamics and simulations can be done once and then stored for further use.. Its much easier for a controlled enviornment.
 
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