So later next year after I decide if im going sandy bridge or i7 i'll be buying another 460 at the same time to go SLI. Does 460 in SLI really need a dedicated PhysX card? I have a left over 8800 GTS 512 which I could put to use if it would be worth it. I have never had experience with a system that intense though so I don't have a clue if 460x2 is enough or not. The reason I ask is because im buying a new PSU this week as my old one has borked it and generally 750W PSUs only have 4 PCIe connectors and the 460s need 2 each so if I want to use another card i'll have to buy a 850W supply. Thanks a lot guys!
I've got a Seasonic X-750 and am running to 460s in SLI, I have more than enough connectors on the PSU. Are you proposing to have three GPUs at once? With my setup I can max out everything and get smooth frame rates. At present I've got the second 460 to support PhysX, but quite frankly, the difference it is making to games is not appreciable, so I certainly wouldn't want to add a third GPU.
Because it's a neat feature and I have a card laying around. If it's not needed then that makes my life a fair bit easier!
What you call a "neat feature", most people call a badly coded gimmick in order to brainwash people into thinking that they need 2+ nVidia cards to get a decent gaming experience. Why not just sell the card and do something with the money?
If you come across a game that supports dedicated physx you can just change one of the 460s into a physx card. ITT angry physx haters
Your 750w would be enough, dont bother spending more on an 850. You can use the molex to PCIe adaptors, you should have a few after buying 2 GTX460s. Also, I dont think 2 GTX460s would have much of a problem running the game at max settings and physx at the same time, use the above molex->PCIe suggestion if you want to have a bonkers setup anyways.
Blimey! Did PhysX steal your childhood sweetheart from you or something ? Personally I think it adds to a game, however I will admit that it's badly coded. To the OP: Going SLI 460s is a good idea IMHO. However, the chances are that adding the 8800 GTS would actually hinder performance rather than boost it as the 460s are significantly faster.
Great stuff thanks, I will just go for the 750W PSU which is a lot better value for money looking at them.
I wouldn't bother with a third card for physx, you will manage with the SLI setup just as well as with a third card and in many cases see no performance gains. Even losses in some cases over running physx on a 460. Physx is due to be updated soon to be coded better and perform alot better *fingers crossed for large improvements* So into next year physx should work better with your existing hardware.
I'd say it was more of a "I have an Nvidia card and this is something it can do so why not take advantage" but I can tell it will be tough getting through your bitter and twisted exterior!
bit heated in here there is only one game that mite need dedicated gpu is mafia 2 as it seems badly coded to me as the demo was giving my gtx480 some trouble when set to high physx, put an gts250 in that did fix it but in turn made my system noisy even at idle (the gts250 not the gtx480) if you have 2 gtx460 in sli one card is auto set for physx any way unless you changed it (leave it on auto) , the gtx460 is about as fast as an gtx285 so if you are using sli you already have an dedicated card as such , I would not recommend the 8800 just for physx as its not needed (if it needs an dedicated card the game has been badly coded) physx should never use more gpu power then an 9600gt (thats about 10-20% on an gtx460) agane mafia 2 is the only exception to this rule, main reason for this is so users who do not have sli can still use physx with out it making the game unplayable on single gpu systems (game makers want there games to run on as many systems as possible)
