Asus releases the first physics card this May

[imported_X]

I've been looking forward to this. With Ageia (and now Nvidia/Havok), looks like the pressure will be on software developers to start giving us games that support physics processing. It will be nice when there is enough critical mass to support actual physics-based game features rather than just eye candy:

TAIWANESE GIANT Asustek said it will be the only company to manufacture and sell the 256MB Ageia PhysX card - the high end model.

The firm described the physics accelerator card as a "totally new category" in PC hardware. Sixty developers are working on over 100 games that will use it, said Asus.

The cards will be available in May, and Asus didn't say how much it was going to cost. But you can probably count on the words "totally new category" as meaning you will have to totally dig into your wallets, and disperse those moths that have been nesting in there.

You can see a pic of the card here:

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30634

 

[tuteja1986]

Asus = high price blah blah :! i wait when more company start production and when games uses it and by that time i bet you will have 2nd gen Physic card hitting store.

 

[Spook]

Hmm is that a Molex connector on that card.... how big of a P/S are we going to need now...

It will be interesting to see what these things can do with a game.

 

[RiDE]

I can't wait a few years from now when these things start sporting dual slot heatsinks.

 

[SynthDude2001]

I like the idea of the PPU, but I don't like the idea of shelling out $400 for one...

 

[openwheelformula1]

I won't bother until:

1. games are utilizing it.

2. it runs cool and efficient.

3. fanless cooling and w/o the molex power.

 

[SniperGuy]

Well, it may be the first thing i've ever stuck into a PCI slot that doesn't have inputs in the back.

 

[Unkno]

The "first" physics card? Doesn't dell already have em...

 

[TheRyuu]

I'll get one....when Physics cards are mainstream (like cheap(er)) mainstream. Like 7900GT bang for your buck mainstream or Opty 165 bang for your buck mainstream.

 

[MAC5000]

I'll get one when it's $100 or less.

 

[Randum]

is that a PCI or PCI Express card??

 

[swatX]

the fact that NV and ATI are both trying to maximize the physics performence in current and upcoming GPUs is a good enough reason to not to shell 300$ bucks for a PPU card thats been only supported in 3 - 4 games.

 

[Polish3d]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
I'll get one....when Physics cards are mainstream (like cheap(er)) mainstream. Like 7900GT bang for your buck mainstream or Opty 165 bang for your buck mainstream.

 

[fliguy84]

i'm gonna wait until zalman or arctic cooling makes a 3rd party cooler for that 'beast'

 

[Zenoth]

That's regular PCI slot.

 

[the Chase]

I'll probably wait until that 1st hit game that I am just drooling over uses the card to create blow your mind realism and immersion. And of course a price markdown and a $50 mail in rebate.

Ageia has a LONG time to wait before the cash starts pouring in. Poor bastards. Pun not realized until typed but now is intended.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

its got 256mb of ram too hasnt it?

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/03/29/asus_256mb_physx_ppu/

not sure why, or if there will be any gains, but more is better right .......

 

[dfloyd]

I personally do not think these cards will even begin to come into a even slight market until well over two years from now.

A. Because cost is probably going to be over $200, much more than people pay for most addons (Other than the CPU and GPU of course)

B. Because the main difference it will probably make in early games will be hardly noticeable other than on a FPS counter (Although a couple games may be impressive it will be far to few to justify the cost)

C. Because its a totally new thing and will take a while to win the market over, how longs it been since something like this has hit the PC? Ten Years or more? Not speaking of upgraded connectors, sockets, etc, but a totally new type of card. So not a modem, not a nic, not a sound card, not a video card, this is something thats just totally new and totally different and will likely not do much at all for most current games that are out (Although I could be wrong, I just dont see it). Not only that but I seriously doubt any game for a very long time will require one to play. They may have a Ultra HQ setting where it would be required but that will be a option to check or uncheck. And until some really kick ass games come out that require it, its just going to be a top end device (Unless price < $100 then it could really take off quickly, but seriously doubt that at least for a good while)

Personally I dont think the card will ever be sucessful unless it gets under a hundred dollar price tag, like a average sound card for instance. This is all just opinion though and you know what they say about those.

Edit: Now that I think about it the last totally new type of add on card (With wide market coverage) that I can recall was the Voodoo I. A 3d add on card that gave your computer 3d capabilites. I cant think of a single card since then that is attempting to do what the Voodoo I did other than these new Physics cards. And unless I am badly mistaken a 3d add on card would make more of a overall impact than a physics card would. I have watched the videos and although neat, they just dont seem nearly as impressive as say going from Quake to Glquake. So again I think the only way this card will become super sucessful, especially in this modern world of amazing consoles, is if the card can quickly attain a sub $100 price tag.

 

[TraumaRN]

I think that this going to be successful honestly, even with the 200 dollar pricetag, I know I'll buy one, and not for the gimmick but because I'm such a Unreal Tournament fan that when UT 2007 is released I wanna be able to see it in it's full glory, and I get the feeling if it really makes a difference in UT2007 playing experience I wont be the only one buying it.

When people see how it makes a difference in a high profile game such as UT2007 then more people will (probably) buy it.

 

[Munky]

High end model??? That doesnt sound too good. This implies that there will be a low end model, and maybe a midrange model, and if you want to really enjoy the latest games, you'd have to shell out for the x1900xt-equivalent PPU, instead of a lowly gf2mx-equivalent PPU that can barely squeak by on new games. Why cant they just make one PPU for ~$200 that will do everything that this thing is hyped up to do?

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: munky
High end model??? That doesnt sound too good. This implies that there will be a low end model, and maybe a midrange model, and if you want to really enjoy the latest games, you'd have to shell out for the x1900xt-equivalent PPU, instead of a lowly gf2mx-equivalent PPU that can barely squeak by on new games. Why cant they just make one PPU for ~$200 that will do everything that this thing is hyped up to do?

The same reason they dont sell just 450 dollar high GPU's.

There are market segmentations and people will fall into one of them.

 

[imported_X]

Hopefully the low end PPU will be under $100, for those folks that say they aren't willing to pay any more than that. With enough game support, I don't doubt that even the more expensive high end PPUs will sell like hotcakes. It's a chicken and egg thing right now though, and the ball is in the court of the game developers.

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: munky
High end model??? That doesnt sound too good. This implies that there will be a low end model, and maybe a midrange model, and if you want to really enjoy the latest games, you'd have to shell out for the x1900xt-equivalent PPU, instead of a lowly gf2mx-equivalent PPU that can barely squeak by on new games. Why cant they just make one PPU for ~$200 that will do everything that this thing is hyped up to do?

The same reason they dont sell just 450 dollar high GPU's.

There are market segmentations and people will fall into one of them.

I can see it already: 6-8 month PPU release cycles, PhysicsMark2007, Dual slot coolers, PPU SLI, driver optimizations,... all the good stuff. Throw Ati and Nvidia into the mix, and system upgrades are about to get even more expensive.

 

[the Chase]

Originally posted by: X
Hopefully the low end PPU will be under $100, for those folks that say they aren't willing to pay any more than that. With enough game support, I don't doubt that even the more expensive high end PPUs will sell like hotcakes. It's a chicken and egg thing right now though, and the ball is in the court of the game developers.

Thats who I think will determine whether this takes off or not and what solution(s) will be used- the game devs. If they are able to use most/all of the potential of these cards in a relatively(1-2 years?) short amount of time I think enough peeps will buy into it. Then prices will start to come down(hopefully) and most gamers will have one eventually.

If they fall way short or just don't want to deal with programming for these then....

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: munky

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: munky
High end model??? That doesnt sound too good. This implies that there will be a low end model, and maybe a midrange model, and if you want to really enjoy the latest games, you'd have to shell out for the x1900xt-equivalent PPU, instead of a lowly gf2mx-equivalent PPU that can barely squeak by on new games. Why cant they just make one PPU for ~$200 that will do everything that this thing is hyped up to do?

The same reason they dont sell just 450 dollar high GPU's.

There are market segmentations and people will fall into one of them.

I can see it already: 6-8 month PPU release cycles, PhysicsMark2007, Dual slot coolers, PPU SLI, driver optimizations,... all the good stuff. Throw Ati and Nvidia into the mix, and system upgrades are about to get even more expensive.

And? What would be the problem? Have we not see a major advance in technology within the GPU space in the last 5 years? Hell in the last 9 months we have seen major advancements in performance. Are you complaining the same could happen in the PPU arena? If so, what is the problem? So we see 10 fold performance increases every 12-18 months?

And if you think it is to expensive, dont upgrade. I didnt think this generation of GPUs was worth it over my 6800GT so I sat it out, I am sure you can do the same.