Some Games Run Better On Older GPUs Than On Nvidia’s New 50-Series Cards

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It appears that some computer game enthusiasts have found out that Nvidia’s new 50-series graphics cards are not as effective as their predecessors in running certain older games, particularly those from the early 2010s. This is due to the fact that Nvidia’s latest line of GPUs has stopped supporting PhysX, a technology for simulating physics that was frequently used in popular games back then.

In a Reddit post highlighted by The Verge, a user voiced concern over why PhysX was now disabled by default or ran on the CPU instead of the GPU, causing significant performance problems in games optimized for GPU-boosted PhysX. On Nvidia’s forum, the company acknowledged that PhysX has essentially been phased out because they will no longer support 32-bit CUDA applications for their 50-series graphics cards and future generations. Although the phaseout of 32-bit CUDA was briefly mentioned in a technical support article, Nvidia did not explicitly discuss the implications for PhysX or which games may be affected by the retirement of this technology.

2008 saw Nvidia acquiring PhysX’s cutting-edge physics technology that boosted with GPU capabilities. This tech was instrumental in creating lifelike depictions of fluid dynamics such as moving cloth, liquids, smoke, and fog, along with shatter particle effects, which were featured prominently in several hit AAA games during that era. Some examples include Borderlands 2, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, the Batman: Arkham trilogy, and the initial two installments of Metro series.

Though PhysX is no longer in use in new games and its sudden discontinuation came as a surprise to many gamers, users on the Resetera forums have collaborated to compile a list of around 50 games that will be affected by the termination of PhysX support. Each game’s performance using the CPU for PhysX has been tested individually, and the list includes details about how well each game runs with this alternative. The list covers popular titles from approximately 2007 to 2014.

For those who play many older games and prefer using Nvidia graphics cards, it might be advantageous to hold onto previous generations such as the 40-, 30-, and 20- series, as they will still support 32-bit CUDA applications. The scarcity of the new 50-series GPUs in the market is common for newly released graphics cards.

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2025-02-21 17:39