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.