Nvidia’s RTX 50-Series GPUs Drop PhysX Support, Impacting Older Games

Nvidia’s upcoming RTX 50-series graphics cards (including the RTX 5090, 5080, and 5070 Ti) are bringing cutting-edge performance—but at the cost of dropping PhysX support, a move that could significantly impact older games reliant on GPU-accelerated physics simulations.

What is PhysX, and Why Does It Matter?

PhysX is Nvidia’s proprietary physics simulation engine, originally developed to enhance in-game realism by offloading complex motion and environmental physics from the CPU to the GPU. This technology allowed for more immersive effects, such as:

• Realistic cloth and fluid dynamics
• Explosions and debris reacting naturally to player actions
• Advanced character and object animations

Popular games like Borderlands 2, Batman: Arkham Knight, and Mirror’s Edge utilized GPU-accelerated PhysX to deliver stunning effects. However, without dedicated support in the RTX 50 series, these physics calculations will now fall back on the CPU, potentially causing performance issues or graphical downgrades.

Why Did Nvidia Drop Support?

While Nvidia previously stated that RTX 50 GPUs would not support 32-bit CUDA applications, the impact on PhysX was not explicitly addressed. Some industry insiders speculate that Nvidia is:

🔹 Prioritizing AI-powered upscaling and ray tracing over legacy technologies
🔹 Focusing on newer physics simulation solutions that don’t require GPU acceleration
🔹 Reducing support for outdated APIs to optimize driver performance

Who Will Be Affected?

This change will mostly impact older games that were marketed for their advanced physics simulations. Modern titles have largely moved away from PhysX, opting instead for CPU-based or engine-integrated physics engines, such as those found in Unreal Engine and Unity.

Still, for players who love revisiting classics, this news is disappointing—unless developers release patches to mitigate the impact.

(Source: THEVERGE.COM)