9600gt For Dedicated PhysX?

[cadefoster]

I finally upgraded my gpu from a 9600gt to a GTX 560ti. I was just wondering if I should try and use the 9600 as a dedicated physx card or just let the 560 handle phsyx duties?
Win 7 64
Asus P7P55D
i7-870
4 gig ddr3
GTX 560ti
Cooler Master 80+ 750w psu
Thanks to anyone who can offer advice.

 

[4745454b]

Seeing as you have both cards already, try it both ways and see. Please report back when you do.

Make sure you tell us which PhysX enabled games you tried it on.

 

[silky salamandr]

Its actually slower running a dedicated physx card. Ive tried all combos with Mafia II. Ive ran two 460's sli with 9800gt and a 480 with 9800gt and a 580 with 9800gt and every single combo was slower than the primary cards handling it.

Pretty much no games use it and its not necessary at all. Not worth the extra power and heat in your case.

 

[cadefoster]

Interesting, thanks. The only game I have tried with physx is arkham asylum with all settings maxed. I only see a little slowdown while running through physx effects like smoke.

 

[warhead0]

Hopefully I can explain what is going on here,

The 9800 is too slow to keep up with your newer 560 Ti card.

Your 560 Ti is able to render frames much faster then the 9800, so it has to wait for the 9800 to finish calculating the Phys X before it can display those frames. If you were to use two similar cars like two 560Ti (1x Normal GPU and 1x dedicated Phys X) You will probably see an increase in frames because both cards are able to work at similar speeds.

This is my theory, I'm not sure if it's true.
Hope this helps.

 

[guavasauce]

sounds like a pretty solid theory.

 

[4745454b]

I would say close. The dedicated PhysX card doesn't actually render anything on the screen. It performs the physX calculations then sends those numbers back to the main card so it can draw the screen as normal. If you have a weaker card, say a 9800GT trying to play Batman:AA at 1080, having a dedicated 9600GT performing the PhysX calculations can help. But if you have a stronger card like a GTX560TI then yes, it will have to wait a bit for the info.

 

[alyoshka]

Ok.... I can think of it as a logical theory in case of both the replies here but there is a big gap since PhysX calculations are handles by the 9600 or 9800 card just on the GPU card itself (You'll need to visualize each card as an island with bridges connecting them) no CPU involvement here.....
The 560 is going to be lightning fast as compared to the 9800/9600....... BUT... they both handle different aspects of the game, one is Graphics and the other is PhysX.
They'll both do their job very well....
The PCIe lanes are sufficiently fast enough ad provide enough Bandwidth to both card for flawless work.

The slowdown is seen only during PhysX intensive scenes..... but that happens with all games, as the PhysX calculation cross a particular level the GPU's and Dedicated PhysX come under intensive load thus a slight slow down depending on the Cards used.

If you're 9600GT is the kind I use that does not need additional power, keep it in, it helps a lot, plus the fluidity of the 560 functioning exclusively just to render the graphics makes the whole setup a lot smoother.

If possible, we would like to see benches or fraps readings for you using the 560 as primary GPU and 9600 as Physx dedicated in the first scenario.

and in the second scenario have just the 560 in the rig with it handling the physx too.

The result should be clear enough. ( For all of us)
I agree that having higher end cards to handle both Graphics and dedicating the other to physx does help a lot.
But pairing a lower end card with a higher end card and dedicating the lower for Physx is not as bad as it may seem either.

It always helps to have a helping hand even is it is slower

 

[cadefoster]

Thanks for all the info guys, I really appreciate it. I think I am going to just stick with the 560 as it seems to be doing a pretty admirable job at handleing phsyx. I might pick up another 560 sometime in the future if I find I start playing alot of physx enabled games.

 

[swifty_morgan]

why don't you just offload the physx to the processor ?

 

[warhead0]

why don't you just offload the physx to the processor ?

It would be much slower then using a almost any GPU.

 

[ojas]

^Agreed. I remember using 3D mark to compare physx results between the CPU (C2Q Q8400) and the GPU (9600GT). It was something like 80 ops with the gpu vs 15 ops with the cpu. i don't remember the exact figures, but what i've written is pretty approximate.

This thread was an interesting read...btw is it possible to use a geforce as a dedicated physics card along with a radeon? (I know you can mix the two cards by using something...was that Lucidlogix's Hydra? Can't remember clearly...) But will this allow people to take advantage of physx despite having a radeon as their primary card?

 

[alyoshka]

^Agreed. I remember using 3D mark to compare physx results between the CPU (C2Q Q8400) and the GPU (9600GT). It was something like 80 ops with the gpu vs 15 ops with the cpu. i don't remember the exact figures, but what i've written is pretty approximate.

This thread was an interesting read...btw is it possible to use a geforce as a dedicated physics card along with a radeon? (I know you can mix the two cards by using something...was that Lucidlogix's Hydra? Can't remember clearly...) But will this allow people to take advantage of physx despite having a radeon as their primary card?

People........... Please post a new question in a new thread.
Lucid Hydra and mix and matching of ATI and Nvidia Cards has been discussed in length in ways more than you can imagine. Please read before messing the OPs Original Question.

 

[robjamderout]

I've got 2 gtx590s in Sli and a GTX 460 running on a pcie2.0x4, and ran some checks. The fps for the tests were usually similar, only really improving when benchmarking(vantage or fluidmark). I believe the comment regarding slower performance with a physX card, can be attributed to the extra details and particles created by the physX process, taking GPU resorces to be renderd.
I sometimes think I went OTT with the current money pit, but hopefully it should handle anything that comes out for a while, and at idle, the gtx460 ramps down to nothing, so the watts used are not really a problem.
I'd go for it, and stick it in.
The more the merrier.

 

[nforce4max]

Its actually slower running a dedicated physx card. Ive tried all combos with Mafia II. Ive ran two 460's sli with 9800gt and a 480 with 9800gt and a 580 with 9800gt and every single combo was slower than the primary cards handling it.

Pretty much no games use it and its not necessary at all. Not worth the extra power and heat in your case.

You NEED to have a balanced system to make it work. There is more overhead for the cpu and the system i/o to have a dedicated card than to even run sli. I have done this on my own on my own money so I know how it works. As for you picking the right card and build takes time.

 

[nforce4max]

Hopefully I can explain what is going on here,

The 9800 is too slow to keep up with your newer 560 Ti card.

Your 560 Ti is able to render frames much faster then the 9800, so it has to wait for the 9800 to finish calculating the Phys X before it can display those frames. If you were to use two similar cars like two 560Ti (1x Normal GPU and 1x dedicated Phys X) You will probably see an increase in frames because both cards are able to work at similar speeds.

This is my theory, I'm not sure if it's true.
Hope this helps.

Theories are only that theories. Theories are gray while real life is green. A 9800gt is more than enough for most physx games and is enough to hold up a gtx 560 ti just fine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-ztuapbEj0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpabRnBJ3G8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jA-8laaPK4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_T82rNvRn0

 

[ojas]

People........... Please post a new question in a new thread.
Lucid Hydra and mix and matching of ATI and Nvidia Cards has been discussed in length in ways more than you can imagine. Please read before messing the OPs Original Question.

Sorry! That question just popped up in my head while typing. Original intention was just to write "^Agreed. Bla bla bla...".

 

[silky salamandr]

You NEED to have a balanced system to make it work. There is more overhead for the cpu and the system i/o to have a dedicated card than to even run sli. I have done this on my own on my own money so I know how it works. As for you picking the right card and build takes time.

I dont know what your talking about a balanced system.

Point is, you dont need it and it does nothing to immerse you in the game. Theres a handful of games that use it and honestly the 560 is fast enough to handle both duties.

Dont stress over this tech period.

 

[nforce4max]

I dont know what your talking about a balanced system.

Point is, you dont need it and it does nothing to immerse you in the game. Theres a handful of games that use it and honestly the 560 is fast enough to handle both duties.

Dont stress over this tech period.