WTF is PhysX??!!

[l_zheng101]

A friend of I'm recently upgraded his GPU but left the old GPU in his system as a dedicated PhysX card. I told him cool but I have just one question: what the hell is PhysX even???

[Big-G]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhysX

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/physx

[Necrodead]

Effects used by Nvidia in some games like Batman, boarderlands, and recently, Fallout 4. 

Stuff like debris and damage to stuff in the game usually.

[AnnoyedShelf]

2 minutes ago, l_zheng101 said:

A friend of I'm recently upgraded his GPU but left the old GPU in his system as a dedicated PhysX card. I told him cool but I have just one question: what the hell is PhysX even???

It's a technology acquired by nVidia that gives enhanced physics effects that are processed on the GPU instead of the CPU.  Was kind of a flop though, as not that many games actually implemented it.

[Enderman]

advanced physics effects and simulations for games

[Godlygamer23]

It's a technology that was originally started by a company called Aegia where they would use a PhysX card that would only process PhysX - the goal was to provide more advanced physics simulations for a more realistic experience in video games. After a while, NVIDIA caught on and decided to purchase Aegia and integrate it into their products. Initially, PhysX cards from Aegia could still be used in video games that supported it - including Batman Arkham Asylum - but after a while, NVIDIA removed support for them and made them work exclusively with their products through CUDA.

 

While AMD cards are certainly capable of processing PhysX, NVIDIA has locked them out of it. Even worse is that NVIDIA will disable Advanced PhysX if it detects an AMD card is in the system, regardless if it's a primary card or not, and instead it will throw it onto the CPU with less flashy effects. Because of this, users would create hacked versions of drivers in order to bypass that issue, so they could use a high end AMD card with a low end NVIDIA card only for PhysX.

[i_build_nanosuits]

39 minutes ago, AnnoyedShelf said:

It's a technology acquired by nVidia that gives enhanced physics effects that are processed on the GPU instead of the CPU.  Was kind of a flop though, as not that many games actually implemented it.

really?!

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

[ivan134]

33 minutes ago, i_build_nanosuits said:

really?!

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

Uh, yes, that's a flop. That is a pretty shitty list considering it dates back to 2006. Do you know how many games have been made since 2006?

[ivan134]

37 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

It's a technology that was originally started by a company called Aegia where they would use a PhysX card that would only process PhysX - the goal was to provide more advanced physics simulations for a more realistic experience in video games. After a while, NVIDIA caught on and decided to purchase Aegia and integrate it into their products. Initially, PhysX cards from Aegia could still be used in video games that supported it - including Batman Arkham Asylum - but after a while, NVIDIA removed support for them and made them work exclusively with their products through CUDA.

 

While AMD cards are certainly capable of processing PhysX, NVIDIA has locked them out of it. Even worse is that NVIDIA will disable Advanced PhysX if it detects an AMD card is in the system, regardless if it's a primary card or not, and instead it will throw it onto the CPU with less flashy effects. Because of this, users would create hacked versions of drivers in order to bypass that issue, so they could use a high end AMD card with a low end NVIDIA card only for PhysX.

Is this still being done today?

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, ivan134 said:

Is this still being done today?

I don't keep up with the hacking scene to be honest, but I think people were starting to have issues with the later drivers from NVIDIA continually cracking down on their hacks.

[vanished]

14 minutes ago, ivan134 said:

Uh, yes, that's a flop. That is a pretty shitty list considering it dates back to 2006. Do you know how many games have been made since 2006?

Another thing to note is that in almost every case afaik (with a few exceptions like borderlands 2*) it was used purely for visual enhancement and didn't actually affect gameplay.  I guess they didn't want to make it impossible for non-nvidia users to actually play the game

 

* with physx turned on tarps and things would tear and you would fall through if you walked on them, where as with it off apparently you could stand on them (though I never tested personally) allowing you to get to some (very unimportant) areas you otherwise couldn't.

[ivan134]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Another thing to note is that in almost every case afaik (with a few exceptions like borderlands 2*) it was used purely for visual enhancement and didn't actually affect gameplay.  I guess they didn't want to make it impossible for non-nvidia users to actually play the game

 

* with physx turned on tarps and things would tear and you would fall through if you walked on them, where as with it off apparently you could stand on them (though I never tested personally) allowing you to get to some (very unimportant) areas you otherwise couldn't.

I'm not even mad that they bought Aegia. It's fine to have visual effects exclusive to your GPU since it gives people a reason to pick yours over the competitor. I just don't understand what they gained out of the buyout. All it led to basically PhysX for no one since the amount of games that use it is negligible.