Nvidia Disables GPU PhysX when Second non-Nvidia GPU is Installed

[Najuno]

Well it seems like nVidia will finally stop people using a low/med end GPU (like the 750Ti) and paring them with AMD cards to make use of their PhysX.

 

Nvidia’s new 340.52 drivers (that enable the new SHIELD tablet features) have a feature that disable GPU PhysX in dual-GPU systems that have one non-Nvidia card, according to Nvidia’s own release notes for the drivers in question.

 

According to Nvidia, GPU PhysX is disabled when a non-Nvidia GPU is present because the company says a high quality experience in such a scenario can’t be guaranteed. Such a combination would preclude users from utilizing using key features such as high performance communication between CUDA and the graphics API. Unfortunately for many users Nvidia says it has not found a full-proof way to detect whether or not the non-Nvidia GPU is truly idle throughout the application’s lifetime, so CPU PhysX is used instead ensuring a quality experience for all

 

This statement by Nvidia is further supported by the fact that it has also instituted its own limitation on Nvidia  GPUs in terms of what is allowed to support PhysX. From here on out, any Nvidia GPU that runs PhysX will have to be a GeForce 8-series and later with a minimum of 256 MB of dedicated GPU memory, which really shouldn’t be much of an issue unless a dedicated PhysX card (aka relic) is present in the system. Nvidia introduced CUDA with the 8-series so it seems logical at least an 8-series card would be required in order to run PhysX (CUDA enabled) on the GPU.

The right move by Nvidia?

 

It would be a fairly nefarious move for Nvidia to be disabling a feature simply because two GPUs from different vendors are installed, which in the past has caused some issues, but never really forced certain features to be disabled. As such, we reached out to Nvidia to get a better idea of why the company is doing this and why slow downs in PhysX enabled scenes may occur in a GPU-vendor agnostic setup.

 

This issue should not arise in systems that have Intel GPUs that switch between onboard and dedicated (Nvidia) because of Nvidia’s Optimus technology. This should only really affect people that are running two desktop boards or possibly someone that has a system with an AMD APU and an Nvidia GPU and the APU does not switch off when the Nvidia GPU is installed and enabled (even though it should).

 

In the Bright Side labs, testing is under way to further investigate this issue to see if it happens on AMD APU systems or systems with Intel integrated GPUs. Nvidia says it is currently working on a resolution for this issue.

While some AMD users may raise concerns over this, the amount of people that have a system with two GPUs from different vendors and care about GPU PhysX are probably less than a few dozen or hundred. Some may see this as a penalty for running an AMD GPU alongside an Nvidia GPU, but realistically there’s a reason why no system builders sell mixed systems with Nvidia and AMD GPUs.

 

Source: http://www.brightsideofnews.com/2014/07/31/nvidia-disables-gpu-physx-2nd-non-nv-gpu-installed/

 

Source 2 (for all German speaking folks): http://www.pcgameshardware.de/PhysX-Software-229957/News/GPU-Physx-mit-AMD-Grafikkarte-unterbunden-1131328/

 

It needs to be pointed out that you couldn´t just put an AMD and nVidia card together and expected it to work. It took some specially tweaked and UNOFFICIAL drivers in order to make this function and even then it was difficult to make it work properly. Though I don´t think there were too many people out there that were willing to go with such a setup.

[Askew]

Can you not just install the PhysX software and use the CPU?

[Snickerzz]

sooo now AMD users cant have a dedicated physx card? why.. thats just stopping AMD users from buying nvidia cards for physx ._. 

[Tocsin_786]

i understand that they have competition and that its their technology. BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT..... IF IM A FUCKIN CUSTOMER  weather its AMD or nVidia I EXPECT MY THING TO WORK AS ADVERTISED. its like saying NIssan wont let me charge my leaf if i have another chevy volt and a honda civic in my driveway as well. WTF is wrong with them

[Najuno]

Can you not just install the PhysX software and use the CPU?

 

You can but you can´t make use of all features.

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

Use the CPU, right? I've never heard of this second AMD card thingy though.

[Kevinkt]

Use the CPU, right? I've never heard of this second AMD card thingy though.

it used to be done in the 480/580 days when it was hard on the gpu to run. now tho? na no reason on a high end gpui

[Levent]

sooo now AMD users cant have a dedicated physx card? why.. thats just stopping AMD users from buying nvidia cards for physx ._. 

AFAIK this isnt new and the only drivers that worked with hybrid physx was back when Mafia2 launched (2010?)

[APrettyCoolWalrus]

it used to be done in the 480/580 days when it was hard on the gpu to run. now tho? na no reason on a high end gpui

Huh. That's smart.

[Najuno]

Use the CPU, right? I've never heard of this second AMD card thingy though.

Like I wrote it was just possible with special tweaked drivers and they were never official.

 

If you go off your CPU it will be very demanding for your CPU and you can´t make use of all features. But there aren´t too many games out there. Borderlands2, Batman, Assassins Creed do have PhysX. But I found Borderlands2 the only game where it really looked nice...

[Snickerzz]

AFAIK this isnt new and the only drivers that worked with hybrid physx was back when Mafia2 launched (2010?)

but theres recent forum posts about what "nvidia card i should buy for dedicated physx on my amd machine"

[Kevinkt]

Huh. That's smart.

 

 

linus did a video on it

[xox]

Ermegherd, not PhysX, please no, tell me that this isn't the case, goddammit

[Vacsol]

Nvidia is the worst comapny that I can't stop fanboying

[XTankSlayerX]

Is PhysX that BIG OF A DEAL?!

 

I don't even use it.

[Najuno]

Is PhysX that BIG OF A DEAL?!

 

I don't even use it.

 

No it never was and most people no matter if they use nVidia cards or AMD cards see this feature more as a gimmick.

 

But the question for me is more, was it right to do that from a company stand point? YES of course, when you have a certain standout feature then you don´t want to sell med/low end spec cards and see the competitor sell their high end stuff, and the drivers were never official drivers.

 

But was it good in terms of marketing and being end user friendly? NO... this is bad, even when just a small percentage of people made use of it. But trying to dictate the people what to do isn´t correct. Many important things happened in computers industries because of pioneers and people that were willing to try something different.

[FellTheSky]

its ok. Not many games use it anyways.

I played a lot of borderlands back in the day, and i can tell it just doesnt work if you put the load on the CPU. 5ghz 2500k only gets about 10 fps on heavy fights, so yeah...

[Dietrichw]

Like I wrote it was just possible with special tweaked drivers and they were never official.

 

If you go off your CPU it will be very demanding for your CPU and you can´t make use of all features. But there aren´t too many games out there. Borderlands2, Batman, Assassins Creed do have PhysX. But I found Borderlands2 the only game where it really looked nice...

yea I dont think there is a CPU that physX runs "well" on, PhysX will kill any 4 core CPU easy if you don't have a Nvidia GPU

[BobbyG2]

I considered using my gtx 260 as a dedicated physx card when I got my 7970, but looked into it and it looked like too much of a hassle considering the only game I played with physx was BL2

[Kev]

Good job by Nvidia making sure that Physx never becomes a standard feature for games.

[jmaster299]

Can you not just install the PhysX software and use the CPU?

It just switches the Physx to the CPU automatically. All it does is prevent the Nvidia card from running the Physx when it detects a non-Nvidia card in the system. Physx can still be installed and still use the CPU.

 

Good job by Nvidia making sure that Physx never becomes a standard feature for games.

How so? Because of something that affects 0.00000000000000000001% of gamers?

 

 

sooo now AMD users cant have a dedicated physx card? why.. thats just stopping AMD users from buying nvidia cards for physx ._. 

 

They never could. Read the OP, it required modified, unofficial, drivers to make it work. Nvidia is just stopping the 10 people on the entire planet that ever messed with it.

[AlexGoesHigh]

physx isn't that widespread so idk why people would put 150$ into dedicated hardware for it, its a cool technology, but very few game uses it, hell i haven't heard of a game this year having dedicated physx support

[Guest]

Can you not just install the PhysX software and use the CPU?

Sounds like they're forcing it to use the CPU, even if one of them is an Nvidia card.

[jmaster299]

physx isn't that widespread so idk why people would put 150$ into dedicated hardware for it, its a cool technology, but very few game uses it, hell i haven't heard of a game this year having dedicated physx support

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_hardware-accelerated_PhysX_support

Every Arkham game has supported it, and so will Arkham Knight. Not Nvidia's fault it got delayed. Borderlands 2 supports it, and so will the PreSequal coming out soon. Witcher 3 uses it, again not Nvidia's fault it was delayed. Daylight uses it. A lot more games support Physx than people realize. It's a false assumption that nothing uses it. 

 

 

Sounds like they're forcing it to use the CPU, even if one of them is an Nvidia card.

 

But making the Nvidia card support it when a second, non-nvidia card is installed, is something Nvidia has NEVER supported. They are just stopping the people who have been modding drivers in order to bypass Nvidia's restrictions.

[Dietrichw]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_hardware-accelerated_PhysX_support

Every Arkham game has supported it, and so will Arkham Knight. No Nvidia's fault it got delayed. Borderlands 2 supports it, and so will the PreSequal coming out soon. A lot more games support Physx than people realize. It's a false assumption that nothing uses it.

a lot of games support it, I notice it now as it runs like shit on the CPU since I switched over to an AMD build. Went from 18FPS in Batman AO to 90 by turning off PhysX