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32-bit implementations of PhysX, Nvidia’s physics engine, will finally lose support in RTX 50 series cards, in a move to remove 32-bit CUDA application support on its latest graphics cards. Removing PhysX support means that some games from the 2000s and early 2010s will lose part of the way they implement particle and clothing effects. This will hit titles like Mirror’s Edge, Mafia II, and Batman: Arkham City, but the quickest solution right now is to simply disable PhysX the first time you boot them up.
As originally spotted on the Nvidia forums (via PCGamesN), one user noticed that PhysX was attempting to use hardware acceleration via their CPU instead of their brand-new RTX 5090 when they forced their rig to run PhysX, affecting game performance. In response, Nvidia staff responded, saying: “This is expected behavior as 32-bit CUDA applications are deprecated on GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs”.
In a discussion thread on Reddit, one user forced PhysX to run on their copy of Borderlands 2 on a rig complete with an Nvidia RTX 5090 FE and AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and performance dropped down to 60 fps. In Borderlands 2, PhsyX is used to make the world feel more dynamic, adding cloth textures to its encampments and particles in the form of dust clouds.
Turning PhysX off in games doesn’t make them unplayable but makes it all a bit more static. However, in the case of Borderlands 2, there doesn’t appear to be a way to turn it off right now so you have to use CPU-accelerated physics.
Over on ResetEra, a big list of 32-bit PhysX-supported games was posted, including some big titles Metro: Last Light, Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2. Though there are notable implementations of this technology, it is still fairly niche as it not only requires a lot of work and can only work in PhysX-enabled Nvidia cards, but it also had questionable performance.
Borderlands 2 had problems around PhysX implementation before the launch of the RTX 50 series line of cards already, though games like Batman: Arkham City and Mirror’s Edge were praised for their implementation.
There are three major ways to get around this new development if you have been lucky enough to get your hands on an RTX 5080 or RTX 5090: You can opt to plug in a secondary PhysX-supported card, turn off PhysX in 32-bit games, or hope that a community solution is found.
The phasing out of support for 32-bit applications on Nvidia cards has been a long time coming but this seems to be one of the bigger losses made in the swap. As always, as official support ends, hope goes to the community for a new solution.
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Kurt Indovina
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