AGEIA Physics Processing Unit demoed

WE WROTE a couple times before about some wizardry called a PPU (PhysX Processing Unit) and now we've seen the actual hardware in action. Last time we saw this marchitectural miracle we saw the card but all the demos we saw were software rendered.

This time, demos were rendered in real time with all the fancy physics detailed and effects on.

We have to say that seeing hardware in action was breathtaking and we do believe that this is the next step in game evolution.

This hardware add-in card presents 40,000 bones (rigid bodies) on screen at a time, while even Dual core AMD or Intel CPUs can calculate just few hundreds. When it comes to Fluids, PPU can render even more rigid bodies. Your game will look like never before.

AGEIA says sample cards will be ready in Q3. Actually, hardware is ready even now but AEGIA wants to wait for content before launching. The cards should be available in retail sometimes in Q4.

A company spokesman said that in retail those cards should cost between 250 and $300. WE understand Asus will be one of the first companies who will offer those cards in retail.

Its interesting to notice that many of the AGEIA executives comes from 3DFX and those guys sure know how hard it was to convince people to use 3D hardware back in 1995. Now AGEIA has to convince people that games need special hardware to accelerate the Physics in games.

One thing is certain, when you use see this hardware in action you will be convinced. Just a fair warning, it will be very hard to see this hardware in action just by looking at the pictures, you need to watch the video files.

With developers such is Epic, investors such as TSMC and Bank of America, this technology should have a very bright and successful future. µ