Best dedicated PhysX card.

[marcoolio_lv]

Hello everybody!

 

I've been a member/lurking around this site for quite some time now, but now I'm seeking advice.

 

To get ready for this years biggest game for me, I bought a new PC which specs can be viewed in my profile, if necessary. 

The game I'm talking about is The Witcher 3. And since it has a lot of Nvidia features, I starded to wonder what could make the experience even better without spending too much money, which, BTW, I don't have much of. I'm used to making sacrifices in order to get things I want/need, but I don't think I can bear getting another 980, especially when my "want" list already has a G-sync monitor (because my 980 power is being wasted on my 1680x1050 display) and the game itself on it.

 

Let's get to the point.

So recently I started to think about getting another card that I could use for PhysX exclusively, so that my 980 wouldn't have to bother with that. I've heard that something like 750ti is decent to use as a PhysX card, however, because there's not too much information about it or because of my inability to properly use Google, I seem to be unable to find detailed enough information for this sort of thing.

That is why I chose the easy way - coming here, asking for your guidance.

 

So the questions are:

1) What should I know/look for when I choose what to buy?

2) Is it even worth it? (Maybe the performance gain is so miniscule that it is not worth the trouble.)

 

Thank You in advance!

 

-marcoolio

[Rekx]

I dont think it's worth it. But if i had to choose i would go with a GTX 750.

[QueenDemetria]

So the questions are:

1) What should I know/look for when I choose what to buy?

2) Is it even worth it? (Maybe the performance gains are not as great as I've been led to believe.)

1. Answer #2

2. In terms of performance per dollar its not worth it. If you are going to spend the money, get an identical card to SLI with(or just use a single strong card). Using a dedicated PhysX card doesn't give that much performance and a lot of games don't support PhysX anyways, so overall its not worth it(IMO).

[ShadowCaptain]

 Is it even worth it? (Maybe the performance gain is so miniscule that it is not worth the trouble.)

 

honestly probably not

[SimpleG]

 

I guess 980 + 980 

[marcoolio_lv]

Woah... Didn't think people would aswer so fast.

1. Answer #2

2. In terms of performance per dollar its not worth it. If you are going to spend the money, get an identical card to SLI with(or just use a single strong card). Using a dedicated PhysX card doesn't give that much performance and a lot of games don't support PhysX anyways, so overall its not worth it(IMO).

I know it sounds silly, but I'm looking for a way to improve my The Witcher 3 experience. I also know I won't have much use for it beyond that, but that's why I was looking in the "cheap" department.

 

SimpleG, I really do not trust that video that much. Back then - yes. Right now cards like 750ti have much more computational power than an GTS 8600.

 

[AlwaysFSX]

Woah... Didn't think people would aswer so fast.

I know it sounds silly, but I'm looking for a way to improve my The Witcher 3 experience. I also know I won't have much use for it beyond that, but that's why I was looking in the "cheap" department.

 

SimpleG, I really do not trust that video that much. Back then - yes. Right now cards like 750ti have much more computational power than an GTS 8600.

Yeah but to even get a card fast enough to keep up it's wasted performance for literally no gain. No matter what card you have, you can't just throw a cheap card in for PhysX because it'll be lagging behind. Consistently. All the time.

[marcoolio_lv]

Yeah but to even get a card fast enough to keep up it's wasted performance for literally no gain. No matter what card you have, you can't just throw a cheap card in for PhysX because it'll be lagging behind. Consistently. All the time.

Apparently it is possible though:

 

I'm really torn. On one hand there are people saying that getting a dedicated PhysX card is a good idea, on the other hand everyone in this thread thinks it's a bad one.

Best action for now, I guess, is to just wait and see. Maybe it'll be allright even without PhysX card.

[Monkey Dust]

Impossible to say with 100% certainty how Witcher 3 will run on a single 980 until it's released. But unless the make a mess of optimizing it, a single 980 should run it brilliantly up to 1440p. And considering they have delayed it as they weren't happy with it yet, they may be taking the controversial step of finishing the game before releasing it, hopefully it will run beautifully.

[GuruMeditationError]

Can you use a card purely for PhysX and not have it bottleneck the faster card? I thought that was tested and it came up showing that everything slowed to the speed of the slowest card? Does that change if you configure the system to treat it as PhysX only?

[MageTank]

I would not personally go out of my way to buy a dedicated PhysX card, but if i upgraded, and had an extra card lying around that was still strong enough to dedicate to PhysX, then i could understand using it. Plenty of people do purchase GTX 750 Ti's for PhysX, and over at OCN, they praise it. I say buy a GPU, use it, and if you feel you need something to partner it with, either use the card you upgraded from, or buy a GTX 750 Ti (you can find them on sale for $100-$110)

 

@GuruMeditationError you can dedicate a card to PhysX without it impacting the performance of the main card. I have never had a PhysX card hinder my primary card. When using a card for PhysX, you do not need an SLI bridge or anything. Simply go to NCP and set the preferred GPU to handle the PhysX processing, and its done. 

[marcoolio_lv]

I would not personally go out of my way to buy a dedicated PhysX card, but if i upgraded, and had an extra card lying around that was still strong enough to dedicate to PhysX, then i could understand using it. Plenty of people do purchase GTX 750 Ti's for PhysX, and over at OCN, they praise it. I say buy a GPU, use it, and if you feel you need something to partner it with, either use the card you upgraded from, or buy a GTX 750 Ti (you can find them on sale for $100-$110)

If 750 Ti is being praised, maybe it's worth getting that. My friend right now is trying to get rid of his 750 Ti.

[I/O]

People even still play Physx games LOL.

[CommandMan7]

People even still play Physx games LOL.

[Spev]

 

I guess 980 + 980 

This ^ I was going to link this. I would be very careful buying a card OP for a physX card...you said you have a 980? According to this video you can even lose performance if the PhysX card isn't very good, and you'd need something pretty decent to be close to 980.....not worth at all IMO. I would just save up for your Gsync monitor or plan to SLI in the future. What games even use PhysX anyways??? LOL.

[SimpleG]

SimpleG, I really do not trust that video that much. Back then - yes. Right now cards like 750ti have much more computational power than an GTS 8600.

Still, it's waaay underpowered than the 980

[GoldSrc]

Is not worth it, your 980 should be able to handle PhysX without problems.

[zappian]

Used  8800 gtx  should be enough , i think.

[MageTank]

This ^ I was going to link this. I would be very careful buying a card OP for a physX card...you said you have a 980? According to this video you can even lose performance if the PhysX card isn't very good, and you'd need something pretty decent to be close to 980.....not worth at all IMO. I would just save up for your Gsync monitor or plan to SLI in the future. What games even use PhysX anyways??? LOL.

 

I am sorry, but that video should not be used as an example when speaking about dedicated PhysX cards. Linus did the test improperly. You do not use PhysX cards on intel unless you have a bridged lane. Otherwise, you sacrifice bandwidth for PhysX, which just isnt worth it in my eyes. If you are using SLI, a PhysX card will help greatly, due to load balancing issues. 

 

Just try to keep the cards relatively close to each other. Do not pair a 6 year old card with a recent card. A 750 Ti should be fine to pair with something like a 980, as long as you take the advice that i previously stated. It can be powered entirely off of the PCIe lane, will not require a 6 pin connector, and depending on which version you buy, can take up only a single slot width on your board.

[marcoolio_lv]

I wish Linus made a new video about this topic.

[tmlhalo]

[EvilWiffles]

Could you use an Nvidia GPU for PhysX and have your primary card be an AMD one?

That's the only thing that'd make more sense to me is if you have an AMD based rig, if it's possible.

[ACatWithThumbs]

Still, it's waaay underpowered than the 980

But it doesn't need to be as fast as the 980.

The reason why Linus lost fps was because the card he used has 32 Cuda Cores it simply can't handle the load so it drags down the 580.

The 750ti is between 600-800 Cuda Cores which is more than enough to handle PhysX in every game.

So it should give the 980 some room to breathe which it may need in some upcoming PhysX games like Project Cars, Batman Arkham Knight, and The Witcher 3.

 

[tmlhalo]

Could you use an Nvidia GPU for PhysX and have your primary card be an AMD one?

That's the only thing that'd make more sense to me is if you have an AMD based rig, if it's possible.

You can but it isn't practical. The modder stopped development long ago and the selection is like 4 games.

http://physxinfo.com/wiki/Hybrid_PhysX

[EvilWiffles]

You can but it isn't practical. The modder stopped development long ago and the selection is like 4 games.

http://physxinfo.com/wiki/Hybrid_PhysX

Ah, I see. Then nope, not practical .