The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Physics (Hardware vs Software)

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by webjeff, May 24, 2008.

  1. webjeff

    webjeff Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    301
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Hey,

    Anyone know why the Ageia Physics demos run better with "Software" instead of "Hardware"... makes no sense. But if I run in Software, I get 150fps, if I run in Hardware, I get 120.... (then they both drop when I spawn a million balls, but the software seems better).

    Is the software the physics processor??

    Thanks
    Jeff.
     
    webjeff, May 24, 2008
    #1
  2. Kreeeee

    Kreeeee Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    34
    Messages:
    460
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    hardware will be the physics processor. Normally physics is run on an independent core if you have multiple cores which will likely be faster than a physics processor.
     
    Kreeeee, May 24, 2008
    #2
  3. c2duo

    c2duo Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    the software isn't the physics processor. ageia actually sells physics cards. Read this. if you play games, you'll get better fps since all the physics processing is done by the physics card, not by the cpu itself therefore the cpu doesn't have to worry about processing physics. as a result, it can process other tasks faster. :D
     
    c2duo, May 24, 2008
    #3
  4. webjeff

    webjeff Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    301
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    I found something interesting, I'd like someone to confirm this please.

    When I run the cloth demo in Hardware (the cloth comes down, rests)... if I wait like 30 seconds or so, I see the FPS jump from ~120 to ~1000+ thats what I would expect it to do all the time. However, I throw one ball (space) and it drops to ~88 fps. Is there something wrong or is this normal?

    Thanks
    Jeff.
     
    webjeff, May 24, 2008
    #4
  5. c2duo

    c2duo Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    32
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    it's normal since when the cloth is down, the CPU has nothing to process therefore increasing the fps. but when you throw in a ball, your giving the cpu something to work with. btw, what's your pc's specs?
     
    c2duo, May 24, 2008
    #5
  6. webjeff

    webjeff Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    301
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Thats on the hardware one that it spikes to 1000fps when it idles, cpu seems to sit at 140 (vsync off)

    My specs:
    M1730
    X9000
    4GB RAM
    NVidia GeForce 8700M SLI
    200GB 7200RPM
    Ageia Card
     
    webjeff, May 24, 2008
    #6