videocard question

[VJ]

Hello,

Is there any benefit (e.g. in games) to be gained from putting 2 different ATI cards in one system? With 2 NVidia cards in a system, one can be assigned for PhysX, but is there some similar benefit with 2 ATI?

Jörg

[Evildead666]

Not as far as I know......

Multi-monitor gaming, but it would have to be a pretty powerful second card, or a really small secondary screen...

[VJ]

Not as far as I know......

Multi-monitor gaming, but it would have to be a pretty powerful second card, or a really small secondary screen...

But you can already do that with one card...

No hacked physx on ati system?


Jörg

[Fluff]

Not as far as I know......

Multi-monitor gaming, but it would have to be a pretty powerful second card, or a really small secondary screen...

http://game.amd.com/us-en/crossfirex_about.aspx

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/crossfire_vs_sli/

[VJ]

I also came across that table...

Interesting read on the sli vs. crossfire though. So the reviewer seems to thing sli is more mature (and of course the physX thing is possible when mixing cards).

How is that havok thing going on?

http://ati.amd.com/technology/crossfire/physics/index.html

I can't seem to find much detail on it... Will it support mixed ati cards?
edit: found it is more old technology...

But are there hacked drivers for PhysX?
It seems to have been possible: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvi...-ati,5764.html

[Marshmallowman]

well, I was happy to keep an nvidia card in my system for physx, but nvidia's bastardry in not allowing an ati/nv combo has convinced me to go ati exclusively.

So now i have 2 old nv cards capable of physx that I am going to give away and no intentiontion of touching nvidia again until they pull there head out of there own arse

[Elie]

I need to buy an Nvidia GeForce GTX285 with 1GB ram, any good sources? Which company makes them best, is cooling an issue with these cards?

Thanks

[Mehen]

EVGA, XFX, BFG are usually the brands to go with, based on their support/customer service and warranty. The standard coolers work well enough.

[Elie]

Cool thanks

[VJ]

I've had very good experience with the technical support of XFX. They are quick to respond and to the point. The ticket system seems a bit of overhead, but it really is not.
If the looks of the card are important (e.g. fan position, ...), the images on their side can be misleading.

[Evildead666]

...
But are there hacked drivers for PhysX?
It seems to have been possible: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvi...-ati,5764.html

Just spent a while reading over on ngohq, where the files where supposed to "arrive this weekend" over a year ago....

PhysX on ATi chip is a no-go atm.....

ATI main display and Nvidia PhysX works well tho...

I'm just happy my 8800GTS isn't doing nothing, could be folding, but not so far, had some probs a while back trying to get folding on both working, and gave up, since I spend time in Win7 just for gaming, and back to XP for the rest....

[VJ]

Looks like things are getting interesting:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1093/1/

The first boards with this Lucid Hydra200 chip have been anounced!

[Mehen]

I wouldn't bother with the Hydra200. Performance is terrible.

[Evildead666]

I've seen many reviews of the Lucid Hydra, and they all got DIFFERENT results....
There were driver problems, and such, and many games wouldn't play, or had artefacts.

This might be useful down the road, but until a purpose (that works) is found, there is no point.

the largest off-putter was the intended price...for a P55 board.

[VJ]

ATI main display and Nvidia PhysX works well tho...

Do you need anything special to pull it off?

Edit: Oh, and is it possible with the nVidia card in the first PCIe slot, and the ATI card in the other? Or must the ATI card be in the first slot?

I've seen many reviews of the Lucid Hydra, and they all got DIFFERENT results....

Yes, I noticed it too... Mehen has a point in real world perfomance though.
But I actually just heard about the concept, and - from a conceptual point of view - that it is very clever! Intercept the directx calls, and load balance them... sounds so obvious. But it does pose the question why nVidia and Ati didn't try something similar for their hybrid setups (which where the big buzz last year).