Physics processing unit to demo at E3

[Steve]

The much talked about PPY will get a showing at E3 and better still, Unreal 3 Engine will make use of it.

Tim said that the next generation Unreal engine powered with next generation graphic, richer content needs better physics as well. You will be able to experience this in early 2006, once Tim finishes Unreal 3 engine and once when games based on this engine gets released. They will however be able to use a hardware Physics Processing Unit (PPU).

[L'Inq]

[suryad]

Crazy...hardware pushing software pushing hardware...when will this end??!?!? I hope not anytime soon cause I am loving it though I am quite skeptical about the physics processor. I mean is it really worth offloading the physics work to a separte processor when dual cores are almost becoming mainstream? Given 2 more years we may as well start seeing 4 cores...and then probably some new technology...a variant based on the Cell...because I read somewhere once you go beyond 4 or 8 cores I am not so sure, the benefits are not as dramatic anymore...and it is not worth adding more cores in....considering all that I dunno how much good the idea of having a dedicated physics processor would be.

[ca197]

Originally Posted by suryad

... I mean is it really worth offloading the physics work to a separte processor.

It is worth it when that processor is designed for the specific purpose of dealing with physics... Just look at Graphics cards, Doing the calculations in CPU is possible but it definatly cannot keep up with dedicated hardware. Even with the cell (PS3) there is a dedicated 3d graphics hardware. Even with multiple cores the CPU will be slower than dedicated hardware.. And remember the PPU will expand for better capabilities (Like the GPU has) and should keep pace above what any multi core CPU can handle.

[Spunkey]

Wow. I read a bit in a Sim Racing magazine a few days ago from Sim Racing game creators talking about how the PPU would help them.

*edit*
heres the magazine, page 45 onwards - teenie weenie yellow polka dot linkini

Most seemed to think it was an excellent idea but that it would never take off, basically because physics affect gameplay. If you have a system with a PPU all is well and good, but if theres a system which doesnt have one, you can't really cut back on the physics to save FPS because it will be inconsistent - especially in an online game.
This was the reason GFX cards took off so well, devs could code games so that if you had one you could look at all the eye candy, but if you didnt you could still play the game in the exact same way, it would just look a bit more ropey.

Now though, if a big name game like Unreal is going to push the mantle of the PPU it can only be a good thing. As surely more games will want to follow suit to keep up with the times (and also the marketing spiel on the box cover) and hopefully make the PPU more mainstream.

Personally, I'll be standing in the que waiting to slap down my hard earned on the counter from day 1. Imagine being able to play a racing sim that models everything to such a detail that the fuel/air mixture in the pistons is calculated

[Kumagoro]

I think i read it somewhere on hexus in the first post but dont remember but didnt it say that a top of the range cpu now can only handle up to about 200 to 300 physics type malarkey. This new PPU or was it a near future one can handle up to 30,000.

I think there will only be trouble if there are multiple API etc with multiple versions.