NVIDIA has stopped supporting 32-bit CUDA applications. Now, many games, including Mirror’s Edge, Borderlands 2, and the Batman: Arkham series, can no longer use GPU acceleration for PhysX.
This affects the PhysX feature on its RTX 50 series graphics cards. As a result, these games now rely on the CPU to handle PhysX calculations, leading to a noticeable performance drop. Some players are noticing a big drop in performance when they turn on PhysX in certain games while using RTX 50 series graphics cards.
This problem doesn’t affect RTX 40 series and older GPUs, which still support 32-bit CUDA. NVIDIA has acknowledged this change and explained that it’s due to phasing out support for 32-bit CUDA applications. A Resetera thread highlights the games no longer working, including Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Borderlands 2, Mirror’s Edge, Unreal Tournament 3, and others.
The choice to stop supporting 32-bit PhysX likely comes from a few reasons. Keeping older technologies running can be expensive and take up a lot of resources. Plus, the performance benefits of using hardware-accelerated PhysX may not be worth the hassle, especially since it often slows down performance even on high-end graphics cards. Nowadays, many game engines provide physics solutions that are just as good or even better but easier to use.
NVIDIA hasn’t mentioned 64-bit PhysX support, and since there are no known games using 64-bit PhysX, it seems like this technology is no longer being developed. If users want to play older games that require PhysX on RTX 50 series cards, they might need to use an older graphics card from the RTX 40 series or earlier for PhysX processing.
PhysX itself, a physics engine originally developed by Ageia and later acquired by NVIDIA, was a significant advancement in its time. However, its reliance on CUDA and the performance limitations it sometimes imposed likely led to its gradual decline in popularity among game developers.
The shift towards more versatile and less performance-intensive physics solutions in modern game engines likely further accelerated the obsolescence of 32-bit PhysX. The fact that 32-bit PhysX won’t be available on the RTX 50 series shows that manufacturers believe it’s not worth it to maintain compatibility, which shows it’s really outdated.
Source: Alex Battaglia/Bluesky
