- Joined
- Apr 26, 2004
- Location
- The Netherlands
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00737/
Speaks about the introduction of the PPU, a chip solely designed to handle Physics calculations.
We have seen what physics can to do a game. HL2 was hung on it for a great deal, and we will undoubtly see more games with at least such advanced physics in the near future. Normal GPU's like todays aren't much optimized for doing physics calculations, so much has to be done by the CPU, causing lower framerates. Lifting the work off them both and having it done by a specialised chip could increase framerates a great deal.
I understand Ed's critisism, and i believe it to be fairly correct. However, wouldn't it be great for people like me with a fairly decent CPU and GPU to have that thing? My 9800XT can handle the bells and whistles of most new games just fine (no AA/AF though), but its having a hard time doing the physics. Having such a special addon card would allow me to keep my current VGA longer (thus saving money from an upgrade).
Then, in the future, when my 9800XT starts to get really old, not only for the physics but also for the rest of the stuff (insufficient texture memory for example) i could upgrade to a newer card, and keep the PPU with it.
It would stretch the life of my current card, and help me enjoy my next one better. If it is sub-150$, that would be reason enough for me to consider buying it.
Speaks about the introduction of the PPU, a chip solely designed to handle Physics calculations.
We have seen what physics can to do a game. HL2 was hung on it for a great deal, and we will undoubtly see more games with at least such advanced physics in the near future. Normal GPU's like todays aren't much optimized for doing physics calculations, so much has to be done by the CPU, causing lower framerates. Lifting the work off them both and having it done by a specialised chip could increase framerates a great deal.
I understand Ed's critisism, and i believe it to be fairly correct. However, wouldn't it be great for people like me with a fairly decent CPU and GPU to have that thing? My 9800XT can handle the bells and whistles of most new games just fine (no AA/AF though), but its having a hard time doing the physics. Having such a special addon card would allow me to keep my current VGA longer (thus saving money from an upgrade).
Then, in the future, when my 9800XT starts to get really old, not only for the physics but also for the rest of the stuff (insufficient texture memory for example) i could upgrade to a newer card, and keep the PPU with it.
It would stretch the life of my current card, and help me enjoy my next one better. If it is sub-150$, that would be reason enough for me to consider buying it.