nVidia Promises PhysX on Your Next Graphics Card

Just announced, the completion of the acquisition of Ageia will allow nVidia to incorporate the functionality of the physics processor into the very next series of graphics cards. This is great news for all who are suffering from slot-envy, with all the many things to possibly add to a motherboard’s busses, yet many boards come with fewer slots than before.

the best gets better!

While one can hope for a major change to the way motherboards are configured soon (like a BGA socket for the GPU), for now the incorporation of a physics processor on a video card will bring some relief now.

As some have thought, nVidia will change nothing about how companies that are currently producing processors as OEM (like BFG Technologies) do business, so ATi users will not be locked out of the fun. 

one more reason the company can say this!

It will be interesting to see the graphics landscape unfold in the next few months, with the many factors that could change in the near future. The depression in the United States will certainly mitigate the purchase of more than a few high end video solutions, and the cost savings of a combined card will help sway many to the nVidia camp. Ageia competitor Havok was purchased by Intel, but no news is forthcoming about how that technology will be grafted into Intel’s new products. Meanwhile, ATi users will have to be satisfied with a two slot solution, and the increased power requirements of a second card.

With the acquisition of Ageia, nVidia has yet another piece of the puzzle that makes a single-brand solution for a gamer’s machine. Could a memory chip maker be next on the menu?

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[tags] nVidia, Ageia, Intel, Havok, AMD, ATi, physics coprocessor [/tags]