Ok currently i have 2 GTX 285's running in SLI and i heard I can buy a third card that ISN'T the same as my GTX 285's

However I wanted to double check and make sure I'm hearing this right.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_faq.html

"Finally we can put the above two configurations all into 1 PC! This would be SLI plus a dedicated PhysX GPU. Similarly to the 2 heterogeneous GPU case, graphics rendering takes place in the GPUs now connected in SLI while the non-matched GPU is dedicated to PhysX computation."

1. So they're saying I could have like two GTX 285's running in SLI and a 3rd GPU like an 8800 Running the PhysX properties??

2. If this is the case how do i set it up? Do I use my TRI SLI connector?? Do the cards need to be in a certain order, do i need the other cards drivers?

3. What would be a decent card to run all PhysX properties?

1. Yes, but I haven't seen any reviews of what kind of performance this would bring. Or even if it would yield a gain. Proof that it at least works in principle is that new EVGA card that has a GTS250 and a GTX275 on one board, the former to do PhysX.

2. It'll be done in software. Connect everything up like it's normal 3-card SLI and it should work. Maybe there's an option in the driver control panel?

3. Going by EVGA's lead, a GTS250?

Unless you have a lot of money to blow, why would you want a third card for PhysX anyhow? I mean, it's not like a ton of games really use it... and anything that does, two GTX 285s in SLI should breeze through anyhow, so I somehow doubt you'd really need a third card to use PhysX effectively.

Seconding this. I don't know what the fascination over the PhysX gimmick is in the first place, especially when ATI is coming out with an open standard soon to challenge NVidia's proprietary physics platform.

OP: What resolution are you running at, anyway? Dual GTX 285s are already way overkill for most monitors. Why would you think that you need a third?

Well, whenever ATi's PhysX competitor comes out, regardless, it won't really see any use for a number of years, I'd imagine - who knows when it'll be in the hands of developers, and then it takes time to implement it in software as well.

I'd agree with the above, even though I just said it would work. You don't need it, no games that use it make it have any effect on the game world and by the time they do we will have OpenCL Physics which works on any card anyway.

like other's Its very limited in its use right now due to many developer's games have not used the advantages of a dedicated PhysX used GPU, not to say in the future there would not be a use for it. just right now I see it as a waste of money if you already have an SLI setup right now, because many of the games are made for single, crossfire or SLI GPU config. you can do it, and that's OK if you want to have it ready when the time comes, but you may be waiting a while..:P

I think Fermi will be your answer. It has incredible performance compared to previous generation cards in running both PhysX and rendering at the same time, even compared to your GTX 285's. I suggest you sell your cards whilst they are still worth something and upgrade to Fermi x 2 when you can and just stand in a cheap AMD card in the meantime.

I wouldn't bother upgrading if you have two GTX 285s - you'll end up spending probably 1200$+ on two Fermis at launch, and you'll end up needing a nuclear reactor of a PSU to power them anyhow.

Why would you recommend that someone upgrade from dual high-end cards to dual top-of-the-line cards when you don't even know what resolution he's running?

Aside from that, dual GTX 285s will walk all over any modern game at max settings, at any standard resolution short of maybe 2560x1600. You won't need to upgrade from that setup for a long, long while, and any such upgrades wouldn't increase performance at all for gaming.