Nvidia 8400GS Physx,CUDA, good enough?

[sandeepb]

Hi Guys,

To complement my 5850 I want a PHYSX and CUDA ready Nvidia GPU, since there is the hack out, I want a the cheapest card I can get.

Will the 8400GS provide good enough Physx and Cuda for me in games and also using Cuda Decoding with CoreAVC for movie playback?

[Slizzo]

Originally Posted by sandeepb

Hi Guys,

To complement my 5850 I want a PHYSX and CUDA ready Nvidia GPU, since there is the hack out, I want a the cheapest card I can get.

Will the 8400GS provide good enough Physx and Cuda for me in games and also using Cuda Decoding with CoreAVC for movie playback?

I would recommend at least an 8600GT as a PhysX accelerator. The 8400GS is not really up to task. I think it's actually slower than the old dedicated PhysX cards by Ageia.

An 8600GT can be had here for as low or lower than $60USD.

[sandeepb]

I guess it's a 8600GT then, I'm trying to find a 1 slot fanless one if possible, can you recommend one, it has to be a 1 slot gpu though.

Additional Comment:

I've found this one on ebay, Any good?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/eVGA-e-GeForce...item1c04a72c23

[vistageek92]

Why put the money into a physix card when you could just wait a month and get a Nvidia DX 11 card? Plus your not going to gain anything..physix is overrated really..only useful if your playing a game that has been built around it, and there are only about 3 games worth playing that have been built around physix

[sandeepb]

It's not really the use of Physx but more on CUDA, I'd actually like to use all processing power via the GPU, since ATI haven't got anything like that I thought I could try it like this, CUDA will still work right if it is setup like this?

And as for the Nvidia DX11 Cards, I want to stay with the 5850 as I would like to xfire in a few months.

[_MtM_]

Ati does have 'something like that' it's called Stream. There are video encoders/decoders available which work on your ati card, I think photoshop can use your gpu as well.

And CUDA is going to be obsolete when openCL is adopted by the programmers, which btw will work on your ati card as well.

Edit: Cuda will still work right? Yes if you can install nvidia drivers then cuda will work. Not sure how your os likes having both Nvidia and Ati drivers though... ( vista/win7 = no dual driver possible, period ).

[sandeepb]

How would I enable the use of Stream on the card then, I don't have it in my system atm but would be helpful to know when I have got it back from the manufacturer.

Also the codec program called CoreAVC works with CUDA, is there any sort of program that works with stream?

[_MtM_]

http://www.amd.com/us-en/0,,3715_16003,00.html

Don't know coreAVC, can't remember the name of the program which uses the hdxxxx series for video encoding but when I remember I'll post it.

[vistageek92]

What are you planning on using CUDA for?

[sandeepb]

Using it decode HD Movies and all video files basically, I've seen it on my brothers system before he got the i7 iMac and it was pretty nice.

[Slizzo]

Originally Posted by _MtM_

Ati does have 'something like that' it's called Stream. There are video encoders/decoders available which work on your ati card, I think photoshop can use your gpu as well.

And CUDA is going to be obsolete when openCL is adopted by the programmers, which btw will work on your ati card as well.

Edit: Cuda will still work right? Yes if you can install nvidia drivers then cuda will work. Not sure how your os likes having both Nvidia and Ati drivers though... ( vista/win7 = no dual driver possible, period ).

Above in bold is only true for Vista. Both XP and 7 allow the use of multiple drivers. Only Vista had the requirement for unified drivers.

And I disagree with others. If you only need to lay out $60 (the price of a console game these days) and be able to use the nVidia card for PhysX games and also use it to crunch CUDA in the meantime, then by all means. I am actually thinking about doing this, because at that price it's actually worth it to me.

[sandeepb]

I can get a XFX 8600GT for £39.00, looks as if it doesn't take up two slots and a fanless cooler, so looks decent enough.

Would it be able to handle Physx and Cuda?

http://www.c3computers.co.uk/catalog...ookieSupport=1

[JEskandari]

don't hear at the people who says physX is useless and CUDA will become obsolete .

these are the games that support Hardware PhysX ,they may look little but you consider last year the list were empty and all come out just in one year .
http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_physxgames_home.html


these are the GPU that support PhysX , if that GPU is in one of them then you can use it for PhysX
http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_gpus.html
by the way I suggest you get this one XFX 8800GT for the Cuda Part it really outperform a 8600 and also in PhysX and it only use one slot

[sandeepb]

Originally Posted by JEskandari

don't hear at the people who says physX is useless and CUDA will become obsolete .

these are the games that support Hardware PhysX ,they may look little but you consider last year the list were empty and all come out just in one year .
http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_physxgames_home.html


these are the GPU that support PhysX , if that GPU is in one of them then you can use it for PhysX
http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_gpus.html
by the way I suggest you get this one XFX 8800GT for the Cuda Part it really outperform a 8600 and also in PhysX and it only use one slot

Thanks for the info and the UK store link.

I'll do a little more research and I'm going to have to find space to put this card in my mobo since most my PCI/E Slots are used or covered.

Additional Comment:

O and btw, before I even do any purchasing, will CUDA even work if it's a GPU which I will be using like a Physx card? ie. no vga/dvi will be connected to it.

Additional Comment:

As a final note, I have bought a used XFX 8800GT Alpha Dog for £46 with guaranteed next day delivery.

[JEskandari]

i can't see why it can't be done as PhysX itself is result of CUDA.
but the easiest way to check is to use some free program to check it.
I suggest GetMedia Coder It have a CUDAEncoder just convert a video with that and see if it'll work.

[sandeepb]

I just tried badaboom and I managed to convert a hd episode of how i met your mother in 5 minutes to iPhone. Beats my 20 mins it used to take.

[JEskandari]

Originally Posted by sandeepb

I just tried badaboom and I managed to convert a hd episode of how k met your mother in 5 minutes to iPhone. Beats my 20 mins it used to take.

Good now it's time to play batman with PhysX on High an beat any HD5890 badly when PhysX enabled .
and when I say badly I really mean badly.

[sandeepb]

Originally Posted by JEskandari

Good now it's time to play batman with PhysX on High an beat any HD5890 badly when PhysX enabled .
and when I say badly I really mean badly.

Well I'm not expecting much from it, PLUS I'm still waiting on my 5850 to return for RMA, so I just have this atm.

[_MtM_]

Originally Posted by JEskandari

i can't see why it can't be done as PhysX itself is result of CUDA.
but the easiest way to check is to use some free program to check it.
I suggest GetMedia Coder It have a CUDAEncoder just convert a video with that and see if it'll work.

Folding is a cuda application, I can tell you something about them which is applicable I assume.

On XP/03, for cuda to be enabeld you need to extend the desktop to the video card in question, if you don't have a screen to attach to it or don't want to use a screen, you can use a vga dummy plug ( search the forums some guide's around ). This is with diffrent cards and not in SLI. When SLI is enabeld, you don't need to extend the desktop to the second card, and you will still be able to run two clients ( each on it's own gpu ). Cuda needs the video card to be active 'as in having a display attached', while physx works on any ( second ) card in the system even if no display is attached.

On vista/win7, you also need to extend the desktop but you don't need dummy plugs to enable any output. The same still applies though, only active gpu's are adressable as cuda device.

A nice free tool to check for cuda devices is CUDA-Z.

[johnerz]

That Alfa dog was a beast in its day and will still run most games ok to well and you can clock it iirc

MtM some rigs still need a dummy on 7 but might still run without the desk top being extended (it is on mine, but then again I've not tried it without extending the desk top - yet)