InvisiBill
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2003
- Messages
- 2,608
I have a few different cards around here, so I thought I'd test this out.
My system had a GTX285 for graphics and a 9800GT for PhysX. I found a good deal so I decided to buy an HD5870. While that was in shipment, I decided to pick up an HD5770 locally to make sure that I didn't have issues with a hybrid ATI/Nvidia system.
This is all running on my Classified E759/i7-920 system. Overclocked to 3.3GHz by turning the BCLK up to 166. Turbo and HT enabled.
Here are the video cards I'll be using for the main graphics.
Here are the PhysX cards that I'll be using.
I'm testing with Batman: Arkham Asylum. These are the settings I used to play through the game (minus VSync). No tweaking done in the ATI control panel. Note that they do recommend a 9800GTX+ for the High PhysX setting.
[SIZE=+3]Results[/SIZE]
I ran each test three times to ensure that I got consistent results. Numbers listed are minimum, average, and maximum FPS.
You can see that even with just the HD5770 for graphics, upgrading from the 9800GT for PhysX does increase the average and maximum framerates. Especially with VSync locking you to 60fps, you probably wouldn't notice the difference, but the game does perform better with a beefier PhysX card. Even without an uber top of the line card, a weak PhysX card can hold you back.
In reality, there's not a huge difference in performance between a budget 9800GT and a rather-expensive GTX285 though. The GTX285 is definitely better in all of the tested scenarios, but probably not enough to justify the extra ~$200 for most people. You'd definitely be better off upgrading your graphics card from a 5770 to a 5870 rather than upgrading your PhysX card from a 9800GT to a GTX285.
[SIZE=+3]Without PhysX[/SIZE]
For comparison, here are the results without PhysX. I tested both disabling PhysX in the Nvidia Control Panel while leaving the game set to High, as well as turning off the PhysX effects in-game. Note that turning off PhysX effects dramatically changes the game's appearance. Example 1 Example 2
[SIZE=+3]Single-card Graphics/PhysX (Newer GPU - Feb. 2015)[/SIZE]
I noticed my HD5870 was almost 5 years old and decided to upgrade. I got a GTX970 (specifically the EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0+), and figured I'd do some testing with the new card. Honestly, nothing else relevant to this comparison has really changed in my system. I installed the latest Nvidia drivers and replaced my Radeons (I had also been using a secondary HD5830 for BitCoin mining and second monitor duty) with the GTX970. I used all the same in-game settings. My Nvidia Control Panel settings are fairly high, as I don't really have any new games, so the quality is more beneficial than extra (wasted) performance.
Just to explicitly state the results, the GTX970 by itself is approximately 30% faster than the HD5870/GTX285 combo, averaging 140+ rather than ~107 (similar percentage compared to just the HD5870 too, without PhysX). Newer hardware is faster than older hardware, in case you didn't get the memo. What surprised me is just how much of the GPU the PhysX processing takes, even on a beefy new card (since I didn't previously test a single card with and without PhysX). Enabling PhysX cuts the average and max framerates in half (min is only about a 1/3 drop).
My system had a GTX285 for graphics and a 9800GT for PhysX. I found a good deal so I decided to buy an HD5870. While that was in shipment, I decided to pick up an HD5770 locally to make sure that I didn't have issues with a hybrid ATI/Nvidia system.
This is all running on my Classified E759/i7-920 system. Overclocked to 3.3GHz by turning the BCLK up to 166. Turbo and HT enabled.

Here are the video cards I'll be using for the main graphics.
- The HD5770 that I'm using temporarily.
- My new HD5870. You can see that it's almost exactly two times the 5770 in every spec.


Here are the PhysX cards that I'll be using.
- My 9800GT PhysX card. I put an Accelero on it and overclocked it a bit via the BIOS (600/900 -> 650/1000).
- My friend's GTX275 that I borrowed for benchmarking. Bone stock.
- My GTX285, my previous graphics GPU. Bone stock.



I'm testing with Batman: Arkham Asylum. These are the settings I used to play through the game (minus VSync). No tweaking done in the ATI control panel. Note that they do recommend a 9800GTX+ for the High PhysX setting.

[SIZE=+3]Results[/SIZE]
I ran each test three times to ensure that I got consistent results. Numbers listed are minimum, average, and maximum FPS.
Code:
[color=#00FF00]9800GT GTX275 GTX285[/color]
31-76-126 29-79-130 30-81-134
[color=#FF0000]HD5770[/color] 31-77-126 30-70-129 31-83-135
31-76-127 30-79-130 28-82-136
59-98-130 63-106-156 65-107-157
[color=#FF0000]HD5870[/color] 62-97-130 63-105-156 63-108-165
62-98-132 60-104-156 61-107-163
You can see that even with just the HD5770 for graphics, upgrading from the 9800GT for PhysX does increase the average and maximum framerates. Especially with VSync locking you to 60fps, you probably wouldn't notice the difference, but the game does perform better with a beefier PhysX card. Even without an uber top of the line card, a weak PhysX card can hold you back.
In reality, there's not a huge difference in performance between a budget 9800GT and a rather-expensive GTX285 though. The GTX285 is definitely better in all of the tested scenarios, but probably not enough to justify the extra ~$200 for most people. You'd definitely be better off upgrading your graphics card from a 5770 to a 5870 rather than upgrading your PhysX card from a 9800GT to a GTX285.
[SIZE=+3]Without PhysX[/SIZE]
For comparison, here are the results without PhysX. I tested both disabling PhysX in the Nvidia Control Panel while leaving the game set to High, as well as turning off the PhysX effects in-game. Note that turning off PhysX effects dramatically changes the game's appearance. Example 1 Example 2
Code:
[color=#00FF00]Disabled Off[/color]
11-17-38 74-125-162
[color=#FF0000]HD5770[/color] 12-18-39 76-128-167
11-18-40 78-128-166
11-18-42 102-216-296
[color=#FF0000]HD5870[/color] 12-18-37 103-217-301
9-16-42 106-218-310
[SIZE=+3]Single-card Graphics/PhysX (Newer GPU - Feb. 2015)[/SIZE]
I noticed my HD5870 was almost 5 years old and decided to upgrade. I got a GTX970 (specifically the EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0+), and figured I'd do some testing with the new card. Honestly, nothing else relevant to this comparison has really changed in my system. I installed the latest Nvidia drivers and replaced my Radeons (I had also been using a secondary HD5830 for BitCoin mining and second monitor duty) with the GTX970. I used all the same in-game settings. My Nvidia Control Panel settings are fairly high, as I don't really have any new games, so the quality is more beneficial than extra (wasted) performance.

Code:
[color=#FF0000]PhysX Off[/color] [color=#00FF00]GPU PhysX[/color]
122-280-400 78-141-197
[color=#00FF00]GTX970[/color] 115-276-412 74-140-189
115-277-388 78-142-205
Just to explicitly state the results, the GTX970 by itself is approximately 30% faster than the HD5870/GTX285 combo, averaging 140+ rather than ~107 (similar percentage compared to just the HD5870 too, without PhysX). Newer hardware is faster than older hardware, in case you didn't get the memo. What surprised me is just how much of the GPU the PhysX processing takes, even on a beefy new card (since I didn't previously test a single card with and without PhysX). Enabling PhysX cuts the average and max framerates in half (min is only about a 1/3 drop).
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