- The GeForce RTX 50 series no longer supports 32-bit CUDA, which means it doesn’t support PhysX acceleration.
- Games like Mirrors Edge show a drastic performance drop on the RTX 5090 compared to older GPUs like the GTX 980 Ti.
- A Reddit user paired an RTX 3050 with a 5090 to enable PhysX acceleration, significantly boosting performance in older games.
A few days ago, the RTX 50 series removed support for 32-bit CUDA, which meant that PhysX games would no longer be supported. Although you may still play some games, the performance is significantly below what you expect.
Why it matters: The removal of PhysX support in the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 series directly impacts gamers who enjoy older titles that rely on this technology.
There used to be PhysX acceleration cards. However, NVIDIA bought this company and incorporated PhysX technology into their GeForce lineup. That said, the absence of PhysX on graphics cards, such as the GeForce RTX 5090, is a significant issue.
Since its launch in early 2015, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti has outperformed the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. Mirrors Edge provides one such example: when physics kicks in, the RTX 5090 suffers greatly.
In rasterization, the GeForce RTX 5090 provides nearly twice the performance of the GeForce GTX 980 Ti. However, when the glass cracks and physics kicks in, we can observe that Mirrors Edge is essentially unplayable, with the GeForce RTX 5090 achieving 6 FPS compared to 120 FPS on the GTX 980 Ti.
A Reddit user named jerubedo claims that he bought a GeForce RTX 3050 to pair with his GeForce RTX 5090 and speed up PhysX. The goal was to observe what would happen if older games were played using the PhysX physics acceleration technology.
As expected, the combo has significantly boosted performance. With the RTX 3050 installed, the Mafia 2 Classic ran at 157.1 FPS instead of 28.8 FPS with the RTX 5090. Batman Arkham Asylum went from running at 61 FPS to 390 FPS.
This makes it obvious that the RTX 50 series is a major step backward if you want to play older games that require PhysX.
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[News Reporter]
Malik Usman is student of Computer Science focused on using his knowledge to produce detailed and informative articles covering the latest findings from the tech industry. His expertise allows him to cover subjects like processors, graphics cards, and more. In addition to the latest hardware, Malik can be found writing about the gaming industry from time to time. He is fond of games like God of War, and his work has been mentioned on websites like Whatculture, VG247, IGN, and Eurogamer.
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