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Nvidia GPU physics engine nearly complete

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On April 15, 2008, 6:48 AM

When Nvidia bought Ageia Technologies earlier this year the company made it clear what it had in mind: to make the PhysX API independent of separate hardware and instead offload the work to the GPU by porting it to CUDA.

Well, only two months on, Nvidia has announced that the conversion is almost complete – meaning owners of GeForce 8 and 9 series cards will soon be able to enjoy the benefits of a physics accelerator via a simple software download. Though the technology has yet to take off, there are already around 140 games that support or plan to support it, and with Nvidia onboard, the list is poised to grow. The effect that PhysX implementation will have on frame rate in games remains to be seen though.

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  1. April 15, 2008 7:14 AM
    fullmetalvegan said:
    Awesome. A move to help increasing NVIDIA gaming performance without having to buy one of their new over priced cards. A good move in recent times for once, after the utter disgrace of the 9 series launch to date.Was worried I'd have to buy a POS overpriced 9 series to get it. =S[Edited by fullmetalvegan on 2008-04-15 07:20:13]
    Reply
  2. April 15, 2008 11:13 AM
    icye said:
    A minimum of 8800GT or better is required to run PhysXIt would be worthwhile to get SLI if the software update allows the PhysX to be off loaded from the main board to the secondary one.
    Reply
  3. April 17, 2008 12:28 PM
    neurosys said:
    Owning the BFGTECH 9800 GX2 gets better every day.Now I wont need to buy the physX card. yay.
    Reply

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