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ASUS AGEIA PhysX P1 Accelerator 128MB Review |
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Written by Mavke
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Sunday, 21 May 2006 |
Hardware Zone comes with a review on the ASUS AGEIA PhysX P1 Accelerator 128MB video card. Having made such a splash at last year's Game Developers Conference with its announcement of the world's first dedicated physics processing unit (PPU), AGEIA, the small Silicon Valley startup with giant ambitions has followed through with its vision of hardware physics acceleration. Previously available only with custom systems assembled by enthusiast oriented firms like Alienware and Northwest Falcon, the first PhysX cards are now widely available from the usual retail channels, offered by AGEIA's board partners, namely ASUS and BFG.
 ASUS AGEIA PhysX P1 Accelerator 128MB Review
Game physics have taken a more prominent role in modern games as developers strive for greater realism to create more immersive environments. Features like rag doll physics and deformable terrain have gradually become part and parcel of game development now and they all require physics in some form or another. Usually, the CPU has done most of this work. However, the general purpose nature of the CPU means that it is not the best candidate for a specialized task like physics calculations, which requires extensive floating point capabilities and memory bandwidth.
Another competing approach taken by physics middleware developer, Havok, in collaboration with NVIDIA, has been to utilize modern graphics cards, meaning Shader Model 3.0 capable to simulate these physics effects, especially in a dual GPU configuration. ATI too has hinted at a similar implementation but there are only scant details currently. Again, this may be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Instead of using existing hardware like what the competitors are offering, AGEIA goes for the logical but bold move of having a separate processor optimized for physics.
After trying out some of the early PhysX titles, we have some thoughts regarding this technology. First, we would have liked the games to include an option to enable or disable the PhysX engine. While this was apparently possible on Cell Factor through a command line option, we haven't seen or heard of any for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Rise of Legends makes no mention of PhysX at all but rather physics in general. It could be that software would take over if the PPU is not present but we would have liked more options or information at least. As of now, we had to physically remove the card in order to disable PhysX.
It is never easy to introduce a completely new product, especially when the benefits to consumers are not really tangible or essential while the costs are. The ASUS PhysX P1 Accelerator GRAW edition is expected to retail at $325, a substantial amount of money for a product that so far is only supported by one shipped game. AGEIA probably spent quite a lot on research and development but it does boggle the mind that many developers have no doubt signed up, thanks to the free development kits from AGEIA and many of these games would hopefully translate into exciting new game play that utilizes physics.
Finally, Havok and its alliance with powerful NVIDIA are challenging AGEIA's position in the burgeoning gaming physics arena. It may be easier to convince gamers to make use of their existing graphics hardware for physics rather than a separate dedicated card and Havok too has a long list of developer support for its Havok FX technology. The battle between this two companies may decide the direction of physics in gaming but this clash could ultimately be moot if Microsoft, which is rumored to be planning a physics API, steps into the picture. Just like how its DirectX quickly dominated the graphics industry.
At the moment, there is hardly any reason to spend $325 for the ASUS PhysX P1 physics processor. Even if you are an early adopter, it would be very difficult to justify paying that much for a technology that works on a single game and a couple of playable demos. Most games are still in development so you would be better off waiting till the end of the year. If eye candy is what you live for, you would be much better off spending that sum of money on an expensive graphics card instead. At least that would work for all your games and applications, unlike AGEIA's PhysX at the moment.
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