Nvidia’s PhysX technology has had a mixed reputation among game developers. Initially included in the broader GamesWorks suite, PhysX was one of the factors contributing to The Witcher 3 experiencing significant performance issues at its launch. For instance, the character Geralt’s hair, enhanced with PhysX’s HairWorks, posed challenges for several graphics cards.

Over time, PhysX began to integrate into various game engines, such as Unity 5, and was eventually made open-source, first in limited forms for PC and mobile, then more widely. As a component within Nvidia’s 32-bit CUDA API, the PhysX engine was inherently limited in its longevity. Users now know that its effective use is contingent upon investing in Nvidia’s 50-series graphics cards—once their prices become more accessible.

See that smoke? It’s from Sweden, originally.

Credit: Gearbox/Take 2

The Real Joy of Dynamic Particles Lies in Our Connections

Nvidia announced in mid-January that developing or debugging 32-bit applications is no longer possible with the latest versions of its CUDA toolkit. While these applications can still function on older graphics cards, you could alternatively keep an earlier model installed on your system for compatibility, which shows a true commitment to old-school particle physics.

While 64-bit games might still utilize PhysX on Nvidia’s latest graphics cards, the prime era of PhysX as a separate option in game settings largely aligned with the 32-bit computing period.

If a 32-bit game with PhysX activated (or forced through a configuration file) is launched on a 50-series Nvidia GPU, it’s likely that the physics calculations will revert to the CPU, potentially causing significant performance degradation and lowered frame rates. Interestingly, disabling PhysX tends to improve frame rates even beyond what native GPU support can achieve.

The connection between demanding Borderlands 2 to maintain its use of PhysX led to reports of it “running terribly,” as noted by a Redditor, despite the visually appealing dust clouds and fluttering cloth. Other titles featuring integrated PhysX include Metro 2033, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, and the 2013 Star Trek  game.

Discussions on Reddit and ResetEra highlight that numerous games experienced performance challenges with PhysX long before Nvidia shifted the technology to either being disabled or processed by the CPU. Nonetheless, for many titles, PhysX facilitated destructible environments, “dynamic bank notes,” and “posters” in the Arkham series, fluid simulations, and foundational gameplay physics.

Game preservationists face considerable hurdles in their efforts. The challenge intensifies when significant gameplay mechanics are lost to the evolution of the CUDA platform, which presents a more complex issue than simply having a scratched disc or Windows compatibility quirks.