Since the game is going to use PhysX....

[Chronic]

Bad news for AMD users am I right?


CPU based PhysX is unoptimized...

[Sverr]

AMD equipped machines will just have to run all the PhysX calculations on the CPU, instead of the GPU. As long as the CPU is decent, amd users won't be out of luck.

More information here

[Hyperz]

I'm fairly sure there wont be any GPU accelerated physics in the game. Things like ragdolls, vehicle physics and handling is virtually never done on the GPU. It's only things like tons of debris particles, volumetric smoke, fluids etc that are well suited for being GPU accelerated. And I've seen none of those so far. Conclusion: I'm 99% sure that it's CPU PhysX only, whether you have an nVidia card or not.

Also consider this: would they be willing to lock out the majority of their target audience for certain features? Considering they choose to stick with DX9 to increase the potential player base I think it's fair to assume the answer is no.

[megamold]

like it really makes a difference if you go AMD or intel

both have good cpu's
both work perfectly fine

[MockZero2]

You know that makes a lot of sense and I could be wrong but, I seem to remember them saying they had a guy come in from Nvidia. HE was there to help with the physics in there flight mechanics or something along those lines. That still doesn't mean it is relying on the GPU just because an Nvidia guy paid a visit but I wouldn't count it out entirely

[Electrofreak]

It doesn't make a difference, really. NVIDIA is helping them out just so their logo makes it onto the final product and Higby can give them plugs like when he talked about their test units running 670s.

As for PhysX itself, the CPU (AMD or Intel) is capable of handling those calculations and usually does anyhow. The reality is that few games will ever bring a modern CPU to its knees (GPU is another matter entirely) and so it doesn't really make a big difference.

Think of it this way; if using PhysX "screwed" the AMD players, it would mean significantly less players in PS2 and less income for SOE. They're not going to let that happen.

[MockZero2]

Well it look like one of our PSU peoples spelled this out pretty well already.

http://www.planetside-universe.com/s...ad.php?t=36608

[ringring]

Originally Posted by MockZero2

You know that makes a lot of sense and I could be wrong but, I seem to remember them saying they had a guy come in from Nvidia. HE was there to help with the physics in there flight mechanics or something along those lines. That still doesn't mean it is relying on the GPU just because an Nvidia guy paid a visit but I wouldn't count it out entirely

John Ratcliffe, some may have heard of him as he was an original Planetside developer.

http://jratcliffscarab.blogspot.co.u...reenshots.html

[EVILoHOMER]

CPU-Based PhysX summary

To summarize the headlines of the last few months and summarize the test results, we can conclude the following:

The CPU-based PhysX mode mostly uses only the older x87 instruction set instead of SSE2.
Testing other compilations in the Bullet benchmark shows only a maximum performance increase of 10% to 20% when using SSE2.
The optimization performance gains would thus only be marginal in a purely single-core application.
Contrary to many reports, CPU-based PhysX supports multi-threading.
There are scenarios in which PhysX is better on the CPU than the GPU.
A game like Metro 2033 shows that CPU-based PhysX could be quite competitive.

Then why is the performance picture so dreary right now?

With CPU-based PhysX, the game developers are largely responsible for fixing thread allocation and management, while GPU-based PhysX handles this automatically.
This is a time and money issue for the game developers.
The current situation is also architected to help promote GPU-based PhysX over CPU-based PhysX.
With SSE2 optimizations and good threading management for the CPU, modern quad-core processors would be highly competitive compared to GPU PhysX. Predictably, Nvidia’s interest in this is lackluster.




Basically it's down to SOE to make it run smoothly on the CPU, Nvidia wont be helping them. The reason why we don't see it supported with other games is because most of them are Console ports where they've slapped Physx on and just used what Nvidia has given them. They don't invest time and money to make it run smoothly on the CPU like SOE will be doing. I also think SOE are using Physx as their core Physics engine instead of Havok or whatever, so it's not like your PC will be trying to run two physic systems at the same time. Id on't think they'll be doing all that flashy stuff you see in Batman or Mafia 2 with it either.

[Goku]

Here is the tweet from Higby on PhysX

https://mobile.twitter.com/mhigby/st...25716885209088

@planetside2 Tech question for those of us building PCs soon: Will PhysX be software or hardware based? Will we benefit from Nvidia cards?

Higby's response:
@dmaix @planetside2 when pushing the bounds of the PhysX system, Nvidia hardware will make it run faster. Normal situations, not much diff.

This is why I thought its GPU based for some parts anyway.

[Hyperz]

Originally Posted by MockZero2

You know that makes a lot of sense and I could be wrong but, I seem to remember them saying they had a guy come in from Nvidia. HE was there to help with the physics in there flight mechanics or something along those lines. That still doesn't mean it is relying on the GPU just because an Nvidia guy paid a visit but I wouldn't count it out entirely

That's normal and doesn't have anything to do with the type of PhysX used. They just assist in implementing their tech into the game engine. Also keep in mind that GPU Physics only runs on nVidia cards. It's a vendor-lockin gimmick. Hence why "normal" physics calculation are never done using GPU PhysX as it would mean that the game would not run AT ALL on anything but nV hardware. That's why titles that do support GPU Physics only adds useless effects that don't have any impact on the actual gameplay.

[Electrofreak]

In short, if you absolutely positively gotta get the best frame rate possible when 300 aircraft explode simultaneously in the sky, having an NVIDIA card will hook you up with a few extra FPS.

Otherwise, no big difference.

[Hyperz]

Originally Posted by Goku

Here is the tweet from Higby on PhysX

https://mobile.twitter.com/mhigby/st...25716885209088

@planetside2 Tech question for those of us building PCs soon: Will PhysX be software or hardware based? Will we benefit from Nvidia cards?

Higby's response:
@dmaix @planetside2 when pushing the bounds of the PhysX system, Nvidia hardware will make it run faster. Normal situations, not much diff.

This is why I thought its GPU based for some parts anyway.

That's PR, nothing more nothing less. GPU vendor has no impact on performance if it's run on the CPU. Most game devs get payed by nV for using their proprietary software. Hence why the developers advertise nV in those cases, like the one above. It's part of the TWIMTBP program.

[Top Sgt]

Originally Posted by Electrofreak

In short, if you absolutely positively gotta get the best frame rate possible when 300 aircraft explode simultaneously in the sky, having an NVIDIA card will hook you up with a few extra FPS.

Otherwise, no big difference.

pretty much this right here ^

[Hyperz]

Originally Posted by Top Sgt

pretty much this right here ^

That would have nothing to do with GPU PhysX though. So until we have benchmarks there's no way of knowing. Take Metro 2033 for example. It's a TWIMTBP title that has PhysX as well, yet AMD cards are the best choice for that game.

I'd advice anyone who is looking to upgrade for PS2 to wait till the beta goes live and some (independent) benches come online before doing so. And don't drink the PR kool-aid .