14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like AMD is working hard on the introduction of Havok on GPU. The company wants to make it run faster than Physics on a GPU, at least that is what AMD's Physics department seems to have told news site Fudzilla.
While Ageia's PhysX was able to leverage the physics in original Ghost Recon Advanced Warrior, the end result was a lower graphics performance. AMD seems determined to avoid being in the same situation, and that is why the company is focused on getting it done right.
What we should expect from this is to see faster Physics and Graphics on ATI's GPUs than the physics accelerated on the CPU and the FPS that are delivered by a graphics card alone. In the end, all come to having the GPU handle the physics and the graphics, but that needs to be done with no or very few FPS being lost.
One possible solution, which we have already presented, is to have two graphics cards, one to handle the physics (perhaps an older and slower card), while the other should take care of the graphics (a faster card this time). Of course, that would mean going back to Ageia's designs, when the physics used to run on a dedicated PPU card.
But the introduction of Havok on GPU is not the only action AMD is focused on at this moment. The company also readies the launch of the new dual-GPU HD 4870 X2. The code-named R700 will basically be a 2GB GDDR5 card with a 256-bit memory interface and two RV770XT chips. There will be a Crossfire interconnection via a PLX chip, but an external Crossfire bridge will be available as well. This means that, when you install two cards connected in Crossfire X on the same system, there will be four GPUs to work together.
It seems that AMD has already developed the driver, finishing it on July 25. Also, reference cards were sent about two weeks ago, but the shipments are expected to start after August 21st. The launch will take place next week, and some cards will be made available soon after.