CustomPC reports that AMD is contemplating on the purchase of Ageia, developer of PhysX physics middleware and the PhysX accelerator chip.

While the PhysX board hasn't really set the world on fire, the software solution has been a widely adopted competitor to Havok's physics middleware. Intel's recent purchase of Havok has really caused AMD and NVIDIA to pause and take a look at the whole physics situation. It's still a niche market as far as hardware is concerned, but it's still an important part of the picture for the future. Both AMD-ATI and NVIDIA have been developing support for running physics calculations on the GPU - based on Havok - but neither feels like paying Intel for anything, so the current plans for GPU assisted physics are in bit of a limbo. Buying Ageia could make lot of sense.

The remaining problem for AMD is money - if only one company were interested in Ageia, the company might go cheaply, but with Havok owned by Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Sony and Nintendo all might be circling around looking to snap up the other serious physics technology developer - and that would drive up the price. AMD isn't exactly swimming in cash at the moment.

Full story here, on CustomPC.

Comments

	Hexus_Tech 2007-11-22 #1 Apparently they don't feel they're dug into a deep enough hole?
	DhinShin 2007-11-22 #2 The more tech they own the more chance they'll find something that will keep them afloat. Alas they are thinking long term when the short term seems so unsteady. But at least Ageia shouldn't cost the earth. Edit: After thinking about it an Ageia card built into a high end GPU would probably boost ATI sales and leave nvidia holding their balls if ATI could stay within 5% performance of them.
	Snyyppis 2007-11-22 #3 Is there any official comments on the matter or is this just a wild rumour? Good speculation though.
	SnW 2007-11-22 #4 Quote: Originally Posted by Hexus_Tech Apparently they don't feel they're dug into a deep enough hole? My thoughts exactly, what's wrong with AMD they can hardy ship some good hardware , but buys here and there
	Mavros619 2007-11-22 #5 AMD will not buy Ageia http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/11/22/amd-will-not-buy-ageia
	Snyyppis 2007-11-22 #6 "Everyone in the industry understands that Ageia’s primary aim is to just to be bought" That's a bit harsh, isn't it? I mean Ageia isn't that dead yet afaik... Or is Havok really the dominant player on the market?
	Jarnis 2007-11-23 #7 Quote: Originally Posted by Snyyppis "Everyone in the industry understands that Ageia’s primary aim is to just to be bought" That's a bit harsh, isn't it? I mean Ageia isn't that dead yet afaik... Or is Havok really the dominant player on the market? Havok *was* the dominant player. Then Intel bought them. Now everyone is bit wary of them, as Intel's strategy with Havok is still just a bunch of guesses. Logical deduction is that Intel is planning on putting physics acceleration to silicon - perhaps as part of their upcoming discrete graphics offering...? Intel is so big that when it sniffs around in new areas, everyone else just kinda freaks out... And, logically, other big players - NVIDIA and AMD - might be looking to match Intel by having their own physics processing division. Easiest way to get one? Buy Ageia...
	Pottsey 2007-11-23 #8 “Havok *was* the dominant player.” Where they really? Last time I looked they had less games out. Are we talking all markets or just PC market? Are there are good in depth links about both companies and market size. My comments where based on game lists which where made up by end users and not 100% accurate.
	Jarnis 2007-11-23 #9 Quote: Originally Posted by Pottsey “Havok *was* the dominant player.” Where they really? Last time I looked they had less games out. Are we talking all markets or just PC market? Are there are good in depth links about both companies and market size. My comments where based on game lists which where made up by end users and not 100% accurate. Okay. Havok made more money. Ageia probably ended up in more games, but Havok was clearly making money with their product. And I'm counting all markets, not just PC. So, if you count "revenue from making physics middleware", Havok dominated. If you count "number of games using our code", Ageia probably won. Sadly many of them do not support the PPU.
	Pottsey 2007-11-23 #10 “So, if you count "revenue from making physics middleware", Havok dominated.” Are there any figures realised? Its just Ageia are used in lots of games and are part of the SDK PS3 kit. They must have made a lot from PS3 games and 360 games like Gears Of War and all the other Unreal 3 engine games. All that makes me wonder is Havok really still the market leader. There has to be some hardcore numbers out there somewhere. With people using Haovk and Ageia and not saying so its making it hard to judge which one is the market leader. To me both apear to be pretty close to each other size. But I cannot say for sure which is the leader. Perhaps you are right and Havok did make more money. I would really like to see some numbers. I wonder if the share price and info will give any indication of which company is doing better.
	DhinShin 2007-11-23 #11 The Ageia SDK was free wasn't it? At least that's how I remember it when they first appeared.
	Pottsey 2007-11-23 #12 The SDK appears to be free for none profit use or if you support the PPU hardware then it’s free for everything. I believe you still need to pay if you use the API for retail games without PPU support.
	Copperhead 2007-11-23 #13 Anyone wants to buy my SPU ? It's a Smell Processing Unit, for starters i can only do dirty socks, but if more people buy it , maybe i can sell the business to AMD, which stinks anyways.