ATI Takes on Physics

[B.Ob.]

ATI Takes on Physics - Computex Day 1

 

"So where does that leave the normal guy that does not have a spare mortgage to fund his next gaming machine? ATI did also have another Intel Conroe system running a Crossfire 2+1 configuration, where an X1600 was being used for physics in conjunction with two X1900 XT video cards for graphics. So if you have an “old” X1600 ATI video card laying around, you might want to hang onto it for future uses as a physics processor in a new box."

 

You'll pardon me if I try not to drool at the site of 3 x1900's......

[B.Ob.]

more crack for my addiction....

 

ATI shows off GPU physics

 

"In press briefings, you generally expect a best case to be shown by the presenter, not untruths, but selective numbers. In this case, ATI showed off numbers where the a lowly RV530 absolutely spanked a G70 and G71 for physics. When you look at the performance relative to a R520 or R580, it gets even more abusive. The numbers ranged from a worst case where RV530 was 'only' 4x faster than G70 to a best where R580 spanked the G70 by 15x. They also went on to show the X1600XT as 2x faster than Ageia, and the X1900XTX being 9x faster. Whatever the numbers, they can put up a demo with a lot of rocks rolling down a hill."

 

Here is the official blah-blah:

ATI CrossFireT Introduces 'Boundless Gaming' to the World

 

And just for curiosity sake: ASUS EAX1600XT Dual

[B.Ob.]

AGEIA Responds To ATI's Physics Hardware Solution

 

"# We’re glad that they’ve validated physics as the next big thing in gaming

# The performance claims appear to be based solely on gigaflops of the Radeon chips and an assumption of PhysX gigaflops, but that is not a meaningful way to measure physics performance. That’s like suggesting that the more wheels I have on my car, the faster I will go. Physics requires much more than raw gigaflops."

[B.Ob.]

They have all the demo vids: ATI and Physics Acceleration - Computex 2006

[B.Ob.]

ATI on Physics

 

"ATI recently unveiled its decision to hop in the sack with Havok at this week’s Computex Trade show in Taiwan which like NVIDIA’s solution harnesses the power of running a multi-GPU configuration to off-load in-game physics from a CPU solution. The twist that ATI throws in is that it can be used in either a 2-GPU or 3-GPU solution with the latter being a setup where you have a Crossfire Dual GPU (for rendering) +1 for physics – we find this setup ridiculously expensive and can’t think of anyone outside of an ATI lab who’d spring for 3 power-hungry, heat-producing video cards especially in light of the fact that Ageia offers a superior design."