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August 14th, 2006, 08:57 PM
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Shrapnel Fanatic
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OT: Physics Cards
What exactly do phsycis accelerator cards such as AGEIA® PhysX® physics accelerator do and do we really need them?
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Creator of the Star Trek Mod - AST Mod - 78 Ship Sets - Conquest Mod - Atrocities Star Wars Mod - Galaxy Reborn Mod - and Subterfuge Mod.
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August 14th, 2006, 09:53 PM
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National Security Advisor
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Re: OT: Physics Cards
They are supposed to speed up physics calculations (bouncing grenades, rolling barrels, collapsing hillsides, breaking glass..). The idea is to take load off the CPU by dumping it to a dedicated chip, leaving the CPU free for AI and such.
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Phoenix-D
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August 14th, 2006, 10:18 PM
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Major General
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Re: OT: Physics Cards
Yup. That's basically what they do. The same thing a graphics card does for graphics. You don't need them, but they're supposed to allow newer games to have mind-bending physics or something, and improve the graphics by doing things such as calculating where each and every piece of that glass you just grenaded lands.
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August 14th, 2006, 10:48 PM
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Lieutenant Colonel
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Re: OT: Physics Cards
They are worthless, at least now. Maybe in a few years when games support them and the price comes down. But until then I wouldn't spend my money on one.
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August 14th, 2006, 11:24 PM
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Major
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Re: OT: Physics Cards
I would hope at some point they would put both chips on a single card.
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Caduceus
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August 15th, 2006, 01:50 AM
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Shrapnel Fanatic
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Re: OT: Physics Cards
thanks guys for the info. 
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Creator of the Star Trek Mod - AST Mod - 78 Ship Sets - Conquest Mod - Atrocities Star Wars Mod - Galaxy Reborn Mod - and Subterfuge Mod.
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August 15th, 2006, 10:12 AM
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Major
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Re: OT: Physics Cards
Here is an article from Tom's Hardware talking about video cards v physics cards.
The tech isn't there yet for the cost, in my opinion.
This is an older article from a month or two ago talking about the card.
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Caduceus
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