FiringSquad: Home of the Hardcore Gamer - Games, Hardware, Reviews and NewsSubmit your own or view users' CPU overclocking results!

  
 Home   News   THE MATRIX   Deals   Hardware   Games   Features   Media   Products   Forums   FS China 
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Home : Hardware : Video Cards : PhysX Performance Update: GPU vs. PPU vs. CPU
» Join the Greatest Gaming Community NOW! (It's free)

Already a member? Login
 


"I need a vacation..." (4) by ICDP
EVGA: my number 1 (0) by imagination
Fury - The PvP Exclusive MMO? (3) by imoish
WW2 License Plate says it all (0) by Ph33rsPhun
SHOCK & Awwwwww (1) by PS2Fish
Bioshock: The Brutally Honest Review [Preliminary #2] (8) by Swatt
Dow II Haiku (2) by LORD ORION
Round 2 Rules! (20) by fs-lyle
Getting The Most Out of Your AMD CPU (2) by Deux
Scandle at EVGA! (2) by exe3

More Blogs >>


 Hottest Topics
BioShock 2 special edition includes vinyl LP (12)
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview (12)
Modern Warfare 2 PC outsells Call of Duty 4 (11)
New Bad Company 2 trailer released (9)
First Fermi-based Tesla board announced (9)
Supreme Commander 2 coming this Spring (8)
Microsoft patents 'Super Guide': in-game walkthroughs (7)
JPR: PC gaming hardware market forecast to hit $27B next year (6)
Report says Activision has hired a 3rd dev team to make Call of Duty games (6)
Left 4 Dead 2 PC Review (6)
Industry analyst believes game prices will fall in 2010 (5)
AMD Life After DX11 Contest (4)
Atari announces open beta dates for Star Trek Online (4)
BioWare announces 1st DLC for Dragon Age Origins (3)
Intel's 6-core Westmere CPU tested (1)
Today's News >>
Today's Siteseeing >>


 News Archive
This Month

October 1 - 31, 2009

September 1 - 30, 2009

August 1 - 31, 2009

July 1 - 31, 2009

June 1 - 30, 2009

May 1 - 31, 2009

April 1 - 30, 2009

March 1 - 31, 2009

February 1 - 28, 2009

January 1 - 31, 2009

December 1 - 31, 2008

November 1 - 30, 2008



PhysX Performance Update: GPU vs. PPU vs. CPU
August 14, 2008   Brandon Sandman Bell > [View My Other Articles]
Product Info | User Reviews | Article Images | Image Gallery | Comments | Forum Thread
Warmonger/Conclusion


The last PhysX app we’re testing is Netdevil’s FPS Warmonger. Warmonger uses PhysX extensively, besides Cell Factor: Revolution, it was the first full game that was truly designed from the ground up for the PhysX physics processing unit. Let’s see how this game runs with GPU vs. PPU vs. CPU-based PhysX:



Like UT3, running PhysX on the CPU severely hampers Warmonger performance. The GeForce cards are capped at around 15-16 fps, while the Radeon boards managed to hit frame rates in the 19 fps range. As expected, the PPU and GPU perform significantly better. PPU-based PhysX actually runs very close to the GPU-based PhysX cards. In the case of the GeForce 8800 GT, the PPU only trails the GPU by 12%. With its extra stream processors and higher clocks the 9800 GTX is able to pull away slightly further, 16%.



Conclusion

For hardware that’s over two years old, AGEIA’s PhysX card was able to put up a much stronger showing than we expected, but it still wasn’t able to match the performance of today’s GeForce 8800 GT and 9800 GTX cards. In UT3 for instance the 8800 GT was 16% faster than the PPU (the closest example was Warmonger at 12%). And keep in mind that the GeForce cards we tested were running a mixture of 3D and PhysX, while the PPU is dedicated solely to PhysX calculations. In the original PhysX performance article we saw some pretty nice gains in Warmonger and UT3 when one GeForce 9600 GT card was devoted entirely to running PhysX.

Based on all this, we stand by the conclusions we drew in our original GeForce PhysX performance article. With PhysX cards selling for $120-$125 on TigerDirect and Newegg it just doesn’t make sense to purchase a dedicated PhysX card when you can buy a GeForce 8800 GT for the same amount of money. You’ll get better performance and a card that can be used for more than just PhysX.

Ultimately though we’re still waiting for more engaging PhysX content to be released. PhysX is a nice little bonus worth checking out if you already own a GeForce 8 or better GPU with 256MB of graphics memory, but as it stands now it isn’t compelling enough to make Radeon 4800 card owners jealous in our opinion.

Considering NVIDIA’s strong developer relations, it’s possible that in time this could change. Now that PhysX is supported by millions of GeForce boards, developers may consider taking a second look at the technology. It remains to be seen when or even if that will happen though.




Back! Page 1     Back to FiringSquad frontpage
Blog + Share: Digg Del.icio.us Reddit SU furl • More: AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Send This Article to a Friend!  
Table of Contents
  Print Entire Article  

MATRIX CONTENT » RANDOM MEDIA BLOG More Blogs >>
No ratings yet
» Please rate this
I am an AMD AgentRead this Media-Blog entry!» Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare SP Review (prelim 2) (9)
by jacobvandy (958) Talk with this user on their Shout Box (My other blogs) Posted 24 months ago
  Latest Content
Gigabyte P55 Lynnfield-ready Motherboard Roundup
Gigabyte P55 Lynnfield-ready Motherboard Roundup
If you're in the market for a new P55 motherboard to go along with your new Lynnfield CPU you'll definitely want to check out today's article. Inside we've devoted over 7,000 words to four different Gigabyte motherboards. From high-end to low, it's all covered here!
Nov 25, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Left 4 Dead 2 PC Review
Left 4 Dead 2 PC Review
Valve says Left 4 Dead 2 contains so much new content, it's worthy of a sequel rather than DLC. Is this true or false? Judge for yourself in today's review!
Nov 20, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview
After a 10-month hiatus, ATI's once again got the world's fastest graphics card. The Radeon 5970 fuses two RV870 chips onto one board for max performance, and is built for OC'ing. See how this board fares in the latest games including Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and DX11 titles like STALKER: Call of Pripyat in this article!
Nov 17, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Review
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 PC Review
With no dedicated servers, no lean, and 18-player cap for multi, does Modern Warfare 2 for PC live up to its predecessors? Most of the reviews online have praised Infinity Ward's latest shooter but those reviews were focused for console players -- how does the PC port fare? Find out in today's review!
Nov 13, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Sapphire Radeon 5870 Vapor-X 1GB Review
Bull's Eye Award Sapphire Radeon 5870 Vapor-X 1GB Review
With its custom vapor chamber cooling+heatpipes and factory OC'ing, Sapphire's 5870 Vapor-X is targeted towards gamers looking for a 5870 card with a little more oomph than the stock 5870 card can provide. Best part of all is that the card sells for just $10 more than the stock Radeon 5870. See how much cooler and quieter the Vapor-X card runs inside!
Nov 10, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Dragon Age Origins Review
Editor's Choice Award Dragon Age Origins Review
While Jakub wasn't too impressed with Dragon Age Origins, Vandy has a completely different take on the game. This is one review you definitely won't want to miss if you're a BioWare fan!
Nov 9, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Phenom II Gets A New Revision: 125W AMD Phenom II X4 965 Performance Preview
Phenom II Gets A New Revision: 125W AMD Phenom II X4 965 Performance Preview
Promising lower power consumption, lower temps, and most importantly for enthusiasts, more OC'ing, AMD is back with a new CPU revision for the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, which now boasts a 125W TDP. Is AMD able to deliver on their promises though? Find out in today's article!
Nov 3, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Shattered Horizon Review
Shattered Horizon Review
FutureMark, well known for their popular 3DMark benchmarks, is venturing into new territory with Shattered Horizon. This multiplayer shooter is perhaps best known for its system requirements -- the game supports DX10 only -- but there's more underneath the surface of this game than fancy visuals. Is it worth its $20 price tag though? Read Vandy's take inside!
Nov 2, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
Borderlands PC Review
Borderlands PC Review
Is it an RPG or is it an FPS? Borderlands blends the best elements of both in one entertaining package. Vandy has spent the past week playing the PC version of the game and came away rather impressed. Read his full thoughts on the game in today's review!
Oct 29, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]
AMD Athlon II X3 435/Athlon II X2 240e Performance Preview
AMD Athlon II X3 435/Athlon II X2 240e Performance Preview
Today AMD is introducing 8 new Athlon II CPUs intended to service different segments of the budget CPU market. For HTPC users, new 45W dual, triple, and quad core offerings should deliver good performance along with low power, while performance junkies on a budget will want to look at AMD's new Athlon II X3 CPUs. See how the new chips stack up in terms of performance and OC'ing in this article!
Oct 19, 2009   [ View Similar Articles | View Comments ]




 Hottest Topics
BioShock 2 special edition includes vinyl LP (12)
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview (12)
Modern Warfare 2 PC outsells Call of Duty 4 (11)
New Bad Company 2 trailer released (9)
First Fermi-based Tesla board announced (9)
Today's News >>
Today's Siteseeing >>


 Table of Contents


Check Out These Related Articles >>
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon 5970 Performance Preview
Sapphire Radeon 5870 Vapor-X 1GB Review
Sapphire Radeon 5870 Vapor-X 1GB Review
ATI Radeon HD 5770/5750 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon HD 5770/5750 Performance Preview
Batman: Arkham Asylum PhysX Features and Performance
Batman: Arkham Asylum PhysX Features and Performance
ATI Radeon 5850 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon 5850 Performance Preview
Overclocking the Radeon HD 5870
Overclocking the Radeon HD 5870
ATI Radeon HD 5870 Performance Preview
ATI Radeon HD 5870 Performance Preview
FiringSquad is powered by... Back to Top Site MapContact UsAdvertise With Us Privacy StatementAbout Us  
News RSSSiteseeing RSSArticle RSS   © 1998-2009 FS Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved