I don't believe this is the death gnoll for Ageia's PPUs. Maybe its current revision wont exist anymore, but we will more then likely see them come back around in the future after lots of titles become based off the API AND make actual use of it and PPUs will actually show tangible results because of it.

hehe, I remember that when the rumor was that AMD was buying Ageia, everyone said, "Oh my, two bad companies merging, they're going to hell". But now that Nvidia is doing it, it's like "Awesome, they'll be making an awesome product soon enough". Why couldn't we see that AMD had such chance too... because they are the losers right now.

Yeah, if they're gonna get game developers on board as an industry rather than on the onesy-twosey promotional basis Physx and other proprietary technologies have relied upon in the past, Nvidia is either going to have to leverage it in a major console first or they're going to have to license the hardware (if there will even BE hardware) to competitors like AMD and Intel.

As powerful as Nvidia is, they just won't be able to get all of the major game developers to support their physics tech if it's only available on their cards.

I think acceleration support through a cross-hardware API like DirectX is far more likely. I'm just wondering how Ageia's tech would give Nvidia an edge if this is how it pans out unless they go for the whole tiered-licensing scheme like Creative did with hardware positional sound aceleration.

Creative are on, what, EAX version 6, now? While they will only license EAX 2 for use by competitors. Maybe we'll see a similar scheme for physics acceleration: Physx 1.0 for competitors; Physx 4.0 for Nvidia.

That would kinda suck.

My true prediction March 2006--almost 2 years ago exactly--and I quote Tech Report Forums:

Thu Mar 30, 2006 4:04 pm
3dfx died but their implementation of an add-in 3d accelerator lives on in a new combined 2d & 3d form (nVidia, ATI, Matrox etc.). In fact, 3dfx was absorbed by nVidia back in the day when they bought them up.

I can easily imagine a similar future for the Physics PU, particularly since ATI and nVidia are such fierce competitors. It's just going to take widespread adoption by game developers to get one of them to pull the trigger. I imagine both companies are just waiting for market acceptance and product refinement before buying up a PPU manufacturer, at this point.

Why wouldn't nVidia or ATI want to short-cut the development process and gain market share (rather than lose it), by buying these guys out?

There are some big variables and different routes of course, but that is what 3dfx has to do with this. Eventually, I think PPU will become standard; early adopters will pay a higher price and gain less results, but long-term I'm thinking this is going to be a necessity to have in any proper gaming rig. - computron9000"

All of you naysayers in the thread from 2006 can bite me... hehe.

Agidia? Nvegea?

;)

PhysX cards obsolete overnight, then?

I think they're buying Aegia for their API. As an interface, they should be able to hook up the known-and-working Aegia functions to the Nvidia hardware. Voila!

DAAMIT! ... no wait, crap. Now I have to think up another one.

Separate physics card = bad
GPU/CPU physics = good

Here's to hoping their stuff just makes it into future NVIDIA GPUs and drivers.

Although they could add an Ageia chip onto their motherboards. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Perhaps they didn't buy Ageia to use their tech in games at all, but to integrate their IP into their HPC "GPU Computing" push.

Just a thought...

OMG! My prophetic prediction finally came true.
Graphics card should have PhysX things integrated.

Now let's watch for AMD/ATI reaction.

Ageia implemented their physics engine through hardware, Havok implements their's through software - both have the result.The consoles have plenty of processing power to process the Havok engine so yes, those $200 Ageia physics cards are obsolete.

OH SHEIST!!!! GPU PHYSICS ON THE WAY!

I can't wait to go back to Nvidia after this 2900XT debacle I got myself into. I can't wait to see what Nvidia will pull off with this purchase. 2009 will be a good gaming year for the PC!

ATI will have to develop their own GPU physics engine at this rate or depend on M$'s DirectPhysic (which may turn out to be great for them). This will usher in a whole new playing field to compete in. As I see it, Intel actually has the upper hand at the moment and they're tough for anyone to beat.

I'm not trolling with this remark, but here goes: Nvidia is buying Aegia for the console possibilities (both current and future). Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are already looking to build their "next gen" stuff -- physics is going to be a HUGE advancement for realism in games when it's dead simple to implement.

These GPUs are becoming beasts. Imagine what old school hackers (known today as demo artists) would do if they dedicated themselves to fully exploiting one generation of cards the way they did whole computers back then.

I see this adquisition more geared towards Tesla than general gaming.
Remember than Larrabee is just "around the corner".

I wonder what the per-chip cost of the Ageia PhysX processor is, anyway. I'm guessing that their pci card has a lot of support hardware on it that jacks up the price. They might be able to piggyback a PhysX processor onto an existing graphics card design with a minimal cost increase, since the support hardware would likely be the same. Plus, with access to nVidia's fabs, they could dramatically cut costs. It may not be ideal as a standalone card, but it could make a nice co-processor for graphics cards and motherboards. I would certainly buy a motherboard with physx support, just as a value-added feature.

nvidia will probably put some of the multicore knowledge from Ageia Physx hardware into its GPUs. Also they could easily start selling cards with Geforce GPU, but without video connectors, just as pure SLI / physX addon cards.

Back when they got hold of 3dfx, it was kind of sad, but in the end i think they made really good use of the IP they acquired.

I heard nVidia also just made a bid for Rendition and RRedline as well as S3 and MeTal.

Yes I know its being implemented through software. I just stated the hardware was obsolete. You don't need to buy a Physx card because it can all be done through software.

A good deal for Ageia, that's for sure.