GT 640 paired with GT 670 for PhysX will be good option

[klinsmann]

I have been using EVGA GT 640 for past 7 months in my computer. Now I want to upgrade the graphic card by adding EVGA GT 670 along with my existing graphic card to get more accurate PhysX effect. Actually I had doubt that since I am using two graphic cards that are different from each other that are from same series, will it create any problem for working of the games? Can someone shed some light on this problem?

[Haben]

If you are getting a graphic card just to get dedicated PhysX effect, then I should tell you that you don’t need it until you want to develop some game or animated content which has high end collisions and real life like physics effects on your computer. But if you want to play games, then let me tell you that having a dedicated graphic card for PhysX is not practical. Most of the games don’t have any PhysX effects and those which have use only 10% to 15% of total resources to generate PhysX effects. Only the objects that will be prominently seen are developed using PhysX technology. For example, Batman’s cape in Arkham Asylum needs PhysX. Getting a graphic card just for this effect is not sensible.

[veeru s]

If you want to have a dedicated PhysX in your computer, then I suggest that you use GeForce GTX 550Ti instead of EVGA GT 670. The processing power and other attributes are more powerful and better for PhysX effects. You will see that in GeForce GTX 550Ti has 192 cores at 1902 Shader while if you observe EVGA GT 670, then it has 384 cores at 901 Shader. So if both the graphic cards are compared with each other, then GeForce GTX 550Ti is somewhat 4% to 5% more powerful than EVGA GT 670 when combined with EVGA GT 640. Also EVGA GT 670 has 28.5 GBps data transfer rate while GeForce GTX 550Ti has 104.5 GBps data transfer speed.

[Girr]

It is good if you want to add another graphic card for PhysX in your computer. It has been noted that a dedicated card for PhysX or 3D vision when applied in SLI with another graphic card will take off load from primary graphic card. When experimented in this combination, it was found that many games started to run with increase of 18% to 39% increase in framerate. But this doesn’t always works right. There are many graphic cards which when used in combination of each other might get performance down but some rate which can be harmful. So first research about possible combinations before even trying out such tricks.

[KumaraVel]

The main problem when using two different graphic cards in combination is the rate of VSync they provide. It may work fine to provide an dedicated PhysX effect, but if the VSync of both the graphic cards is different, it might cause problems like micro stuttering or page tearing. So first see if the VSyncs of the both graphic cards won’t create problems. This problem will be usually seen when running the SLI combination for larger resolution. If you will be running it on multiple monitors, say, three monitors simultaneously, then you will notice these problems.

[Tigerius]

Let me make you one thing clear that getting an high end card for having dedicated PhysX effect won’t do much difference than buying an low end graphic card with PhysX. PhysX depends on calculation that is done by the graphic card’s processor about an object that will be changed in a certain way after being collided or interacted with. For example, if your in-game car collides with a bike head on, then a small dent pushing the bonnet inside will appear. But if you collide the car with a truck, then whole front side will be squashed. This calculation is done by the graphic card and it will remain same on highest resolution as well as on lowest resolution. Maybe the speeds of calculation differ, but that difference will be small enough to be ignored. The only problem will be of rendering the object in the game will start.

[singham2011]

This calculation is done by the graphic card and it will remain same on highest resolution as well as on lowest resolution. Maybe the speeds of calculation differ, but that difference will be small enough to be ignored. The only problem will be of rendering the object in the game will start.

So this means to have a dedicated PhysX one can also have a low end graphic card. But again, if one high end graphic card is used and another low end graphic card, then it might happen that to match the performance, the low end graphic card will decrease the performance of high end card. So in short, one needs to have almost same graphic cards to have dedicated PhysX.

[ddj]

I’d like to give you one piece of advice. Instead of spending money on getting a high end graphic card just because you want dedicated PhysX and want your EVGA GT 640 independently. Let me tell you that there are only limited games which actually use PhysX effects. Some of them are Batman: Arkham City and Mafia II. So if you just overclock your existing EVGA GT 640, then it will to produce the same effect as the two graphic cards in SLI with one dedicated to PhysX. You can save that money and later on buy new graphic card that will have more powerful PhysX processor.