Sli And Physics ? Novidade Da Nvidia

[=FN=Fluidman]

NVIDIA SLI Physics Technology Report!

SLI And Physics???

Just when you thought NVIDIA has reached the limit in the features they can cram into their GPUs, they come up with a new trick up their sleeves - SLI Physics!

Yes, believe it or not, NVIDIA intends to have physics processing offloaded from the CPU to their GPUs. This will increase the work being done by their top GPUs which are already CPU-limited and reduce their performance dependency on the CPU.

Ultimately, NVIDIA hopes this will drive up demand for their high-end GPUs. Of course, NVIDIA is emphasizing on SLI configurations for this feature. Hence, the name SLI Physics.

With effects physics offloaded to the GPU, NVIDIA says this will allow effects physics to be applied on a more massive scale, with thousands of objects interacting.



In addition, game programmers will be able to add even more visual effects, like debris falling down, smoke and fog that swirl as you walk though them, etc.



Although this feature is still in development, NVIDIA have been working with Havok on this new feature in their new Havok FX engine. In fact, Havok and NVIDIA will be showing off the SLI Physics feature in a proof of concept demo at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2006.



Of course, Havok only makes the engine. But as NVIDIA points out, many game developers use their engine. Currently, Havok is the only engine developer that NVIDIA has worked with on the SLI physics feature, but you can be sure NVIDIA will be casting their nets further out eventually.



Currently, the new Havok FX engine will support SLI physics even for a single NVIDIA GPU. But NVIDIA states that an SLI configuration is still the preferred mode since it allows the second GPU to be dedicated for effects physics processing.



Now, coming to the actual mechanics itself, NVIDIA starts off by explaining traditional physics processing, which is done entirely by the CPU. This includes both gameplay objects (namely, you, the character) and effects objects like grenades, buildings, smoke, fog, etc.



But in games and graphics cards that support SLI physics, the GPU takes over the processing of effects physics. The CPU is left with only the job of processing the gameplay object physics.



Both game and graphics driver must support SLI physics. In Havok FX, the engine sends the effects physics data to the graphics driver through DirectX. If either game or graphics driver do not support SLI physics, then it won't be possible to offload effects physics to the GPU.



If you have an SLI configuration, the second GPU can be used for effects physics processing in games that support it. Currently, dynamic load balancing is not yet possible. So, the second GPU is either used entirely to process effects physics, or graphics. But NVIDIA is working on a load balancing model that will allow maximum use of both GPUs.

[=FN=Fluidman]

Now, just how much performance improvement can we see from using SLI physics? Let's find out!

The Performance Boost

NVIDIA ran a performance comparison using a benchmark with 15,000 boulders in the scene. As you can see, NVIDIA is claiming a 10X increase in performance!



SLI For Developers

NVIDIA also made a point of telling us why SLI is not only for the hardcore gamer who want nothing but the best. Even game developers should make use of SLI. This is because SLI will allow game developers to develop games for the next generation mainstream cards.

The performance level of today's SLI cards will be more or less what we can expect from a single next-generation card. Game developers can therefore design games around what's expected from the next generation cards, without actually waiting for them.



Of course, with SLI physics thrown in, game developers can also reduce their dependency on the CPU to deliver even better graphics. They can design their games around the graphics processor, instead of the CPU. Exactly what NVIDIA would like, of course!



There's no word on when we can actually run SLI physics on our own systems. But NVIDIA says that both games and drivers that support SLI physics will be available by the end of the year.

Like SLI, SLI physics will come with optimized profiles for various games that support it, but it's not necessary. As long as the game and driver supports SLI physics, it should work out of the box.

Conclusion

Well, I guess it's pretty much expected for NVIDIA to find some new way to utilize all those extra processing power in their latest GPUs. To be honest, we actually expected them to integrate audio processing into their GPUs... but SLI physics sounds like a good alternative!

In fact, it sounds like a great way to offload work from the CPU to the GPU. After all, even the high-end CPUs have trouble keeping up with the latest graphics cards from both NVIDIA and ATI. This will allow the graphics cards to deliver better performance without being limited by the CPU.

Of course, those are just assumptions based on limited details and a single benchmark results. We will need to see just how much performance boost we will get with a single GPU and a SLI configuration when we get hold of a driver and game that supports SLI physics.


Texto retirado do Site : http://www.rojakpot.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=303&pgno=0


Parece que vem coisa boa por aí.


Abraços,

=FN=Fluidman
 

[=FN=Fluidman]

Pesquisei aqui e já encontrei o primeiro fabricante de placas aceleradoras de física do mercado :

Segue o link : http://physx.ageia.com

Nele já se tem uma lista de jogos suportados e vídeos de jogos.

Abraços,

=FN=Fluidman

[=FN=Lorena]

gostei da parte de interagir com fumaça =op... penso q massa.. c fazendo akele vacuo nas nuvens quando vc passa =op...

[=FN=SIX O'clock]

Fantástico Fluid!   :1:

Muito bom o post... tomara que essa tecnologia vire realidade.


Abraço    

[=FN=Eagle]

Daqui uns dias nos vamos interagir com os cenarios, vcs vao ver. Ja pensou, pilotando um Mig-29. Simula os comandos com gestos.
No novo VG da Nintendo, chamado Revolution, o contole é assim, se vc quer por exemplo dar um golpe com a espada de Link (Zelda) vc deve mexer a mao como se estivesse realmente com a espada. A mesma coisa nos jogos de FPS, onde vc mexe a mao e a arma mexe tbm.
Mas vcs viram os requerimentos né. Minimo: 7600GS e recomendado 7900 GTX SLI, Ai ai.

[=FN=Lorena]

pra brasileiro isso ta longe.... ou pra nao humanos... coisa d deuses dos pc... portanto... só guto pode  [XD]  

[=FN=SIX O'clock]

pra brasileiro isso ta longe.... ou pra nao humanos... coisa d deuses dos pc... portanto... só guto pode  [XD]

Guto já tem, Lorena... Guto já tem.    

[=FN=Lorena]

por isso msm XD .... e vc axa q ele nao vai compra um sistema quadSLI? hahaha

[Thiago_ChesTer]

traduzindo do chines para o portugues fica como?
 :stupido  :spam:  :flato:  :bebu:  [evil]

[edge]

Daqui uns dias nos vamos interagir com os cenarios, vcs vao ver. Ja pensou, pilotando um Mig-29. Simula os comandos com gestos.
No novo VG da Nintendo, chamado Revolution, o contole é assim, se vc quer por exemplo dar um golpe com a espada de Link (Zelda) vc deve mexer a mao como se estivesse realmente com a espada. A mesma coisa nos jogos de FPS, onde vc mexe a mao e a arma mexe tbm.
Mas vcs viram os requerimentos né. Minimo: 7600GS e recomendado 7900 GTX SLI, Ai ai.

po... como eu irei atualizar o pc só daqui a uns 2 anos, até lá pego uma 8900 q já vai estar baratinho e rodando isso tudo aí hauhahaah