metallicamaster3

A lot of people are asking a lot of questions over and over, and some of these are about PhysX -- what cards are supported, which games use the technology, and what configurations in junction with other cards will work. This thread should answer all your questions related.

What is PhysX?

Taken straight from the wiki page;

Essentially, some games can take advantage of the technology to produce real-life physics effects. For example, in the game "Mirror's Edge", instead of glass being kicked and having a standard "glass-fall" animation where broken particles just fall to the floor, PhysX will take the broken glass particles and manipulate them to give an animation nearly identical to the effect of that in real life -- the glass will shatter outwards from where it was kicked, and scatter across the ground in such a manner.

What cards can handle PhysX?

Any card that is CUDA-enabled (any card from the GeForce 8xxx-series and above) can be PhysX enabled.

The full list of nVidia cards that support PhysX (if your card is listed here, IT WILL WORK):

GeForce GTX 295
GeForce GTX 285
GeForce GTX 280
GeForce GTX 275
GeForce GTX 260
GeForce GTS 250
GeForce GT 220
GeForce G 105M
GeForce G210

GeForce 9800 GX2
GeForce 9800 GTX+
GeForce 9800 GTX
GeForce 9800 GT
GeForce 9600 GSO
GeForce 9600 GT
GeForce 9500 GT
GeForce 9400 GT
GeForce 9400 mGPU
GeForce 9300 mGPU

GeForce 8800 Ultra
GeForce 8800 GTX
GeForce 8800 GTS
GeForce 8800 GT
GeForce 8800 GS
GeForce 8600 GTS
GeForce 8600 GT
GeForce 8600 mGT
GeForce 8500 GT
GeForce 8400 GS
GeForce 8300 mGPU
GeForce 8200 mGPU
GeForce 8100 mGPU

GeForce GTX 280M
GeForce GTX 260M
GeForce GTS 260M
GeForce GTS 250M
GeForce GTS 160M
GeForce GT 240M
GeForce GT 230M
GeForce GT 220M
GeForce G210M

GeForce 9800M GTX
GeForce 9800M GTS
GeForce 9800M GT
GeForce 9800M GS
GeForce 9700M GTS
GeForce 9700M GT
GeForce GT 130M
GeForce GT 120M
GeForce 9650M GT
GeForce 9650M GS
GeForce 9600M GT
GeForce 9600M GS
GeForce 9500M GS
GeForce 9500M G
GeForce 9400M G
GeForce 9300M GS
GeForce 9300M G
GeForce 9200M GS
GeForce 9100M G

GeForce 8800M GTS
GeForce 8700M GT
GeForce 8600M GT
GeForce 8600M GS
GeForce 8400M GT
GeForce 8400M GS
GeForce 8400M G
GeForce 8200M G

Quadro FX 5800
Quadro FX 5600
Quadro FX 4800
Quadro FX 4700 X2
Quadro FX 4600
Quadro FX 3800
Quadro FX 3700
Quadro FX 1800
Quadro FX 1700
Quadro FX 580
Quadro FX 570
Quadro FX 380
Quadro FX 370

Quadro NVS 290
Quadro NVS 295
Quadro NVS 420
Quadro NVS 450

Quadro Plex 1000 Model IV
Quadro Plex 1000 Model S4

Quadro FX 3700M
Quadro FX 3600M
Quadro FX 2700M
Quadro FX 1700M
Quadro FX 1600M
Quadro FX 770M
Quadro FX 570M
Quadro FX 370M
Quadro FX 360M

Quadro NVS 320M
Quadro NVS 160M
Quadro NVS 150M
Quadro NVS 140M
Quadro NVS 135M
Quadro NVS 130M

Tesla S1070
Tesla C1060
Tesla C870
Tesla D870
Tesla S870

Note:
2x GPU cards (i.e 9800 GX2 and GTX 295) will only utilize one core for PPU/CUDA processing for PhysX. (thanks tha d0ctor!)

What games can utilize PhysX?

Please refer to this wiki page for the list of supported games that can use PhysX.

"If I have XXX card, will YYY card be okay for PhysX?"

PhysX-enabled cards are only practical when you're playing PhysX-compatible games (see above wiki link). Having a dedicated PhysX card is only practical when your main GPU is not capable of doing both duties by itself. In an SLI configuration (with approximately a 9600SO SLI config or above) playing at approximately 1280x1024 or 1440x900, then a dedicated PhysX card isn't practical as the two 9600GSOs can handle the load just fine. However, if you are a benchmark-junkie then most likely you'll want a dedicated PhysX card for those extra few points, or even just for the extra frames-per-second the game can put out.

Another example is a single card configuration with a dedicated PhysX card. Take a 9800GT. You play "Mirror's Edge" a lot and you're not satisfied with your performance with PhysX enabled on your single card, playing at resolutions such as 1440x900 or 1680x1050. You could pick up a card such as an 8600GT or 8600GTS to put in your second PCI-express slot and utilize PhysX on that card, to take the load of PhysX on your 9800GT, which could give you better performance in-game.

For a high-performance setup, such as a GTX 295, a dedicated PhysX card will more-than-likely not give you any gains. The GTX 295 would more-than-likely handle all the load that the game and throw at it, and having a dedicated card for PhysX would probably just be a waste of power. The same can be said for a GTX 285 SLI configurations, and so on and so forth.

In the end, if you have a 8xxx series card or above, no one's going to stop you from using it for a dedicated PhysX card, it's all up to you, it's your hardware .

I have a spare 6600GT, can I use it for PhysX?

No, you cannot use PhysX on your card as it does not support CUDA technology. Only GeForce 8xxx-series and above can utilize PhysX since they are CUDA-enabled chips.

My main GPU is an ATi-series GPU. Can I add a spare 8600GT for PhysX?

With the current drivers, nVidia locks-out PhysX support for machines with an ATi card present. In addition, for some incomprehensible reasons, the latest version of PhysX System Software also prevents PPU cards from working if a Non-NVIDIA GPU is present. However, some people have had mixed results in tricking the drivers to use PhysX anyway with an ATI card in the system. Of course, you could always try to look for older drivers that don't have the lock out, but only the 185.xx drivers which you can download from Filehippo and nVidia's website. You can still update the PhysX portion just not the display driver for the card and can only be used in Windows XP and Windows 7 at the moment - and of course your results could vary, especially with new cards that are to come out. (Thanks KamuiRSX!)

My motherboard is an Intel/AMD board and does not support SLI. It is not an nForce-based chipset. Can I run a PhysX card?

Yes, you can. Unlike SLI, nVidia does not require you to have an nForce-based motherboard to utilize PhysX support on a dedicated card. Any motherboard with multiple PCI-express slots can use a GPU for dedicated PhysX work.

I have three of these cards, only two are in SLI, can I use the third one for PhysX?

No. It seems that when the drivers detect three identical cards (even if they aren't Tri-SLI capable), it doesn't let you use the third card only for PhysX because they figure what is the point if you'd rather do Tri-SLI and GPU PhysX. This applies wither or not your cards are Tri-SLI capable or not. It is possible that a driver bug causes this. You'll need a different card to have dedicated PhysX support.

What kind of bandwidth is required for PhysX on my PCIe bus?

According to this, it's apparent that x8 and x4 are fine for PhysX, and that x1 will even work without impacting performance noticeably. Although, it's not recommended to modify your board/card to pull this off, as it will void warranties and could cause a fatal malfunction if not done perfectly.

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metallicamaster3

Any other typical questions that most people ask, please let me know so I can add it to the FAQ.

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tha d0ctor

*Note*

All of the cards listed should be able to handle dedicated Physx, 2x GPU cards (i.e 9800 GX2 and GTX 295) will only utilize one core for PPU|CUDA processing.

*Note*

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metallicamaster3

Thanks, I'll add that

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tha d0ctor

no problem just trying to help, im sure you could phrase it better but I was just trying to get the point across

at some point I was gonna do a whole post debunking physx and compiling a lot of physx research/benching etc I'll keep u posted so we can consolidate

it's safe to say im a physx fanboy

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metallicamaster3

Awesome, keep me updated via PM

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burton560

but in order to have the physx, do you need two pci-e ports?

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metallicamaster3

No. PhysX can be enabled on a single-card configuration as well. A dedicated PhysX card will of course need a second PCI-e port though.

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KamuiRSX

To your last part. You can but only with the 185.xx drivers which you can download from Filehippo and nVidia's website. It can only be used in Windows XP and Windows 7 at the moment.

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metallicamaster3

Thanks, +1

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