| Developer(s) | Nvidia Corporation |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 9.11.1107 / November 10, 2011 |
| Operating system | Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS X, Linux (not GPU accelerated), Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Type | Physics simulation |
| License | Proprietary, Commercial |
| Website | Nvidia PhysX developer site |
PhysX is a proprietary realtime physics engine middleware SDK developed by Ageia (which itself was acquired by Nvidia in February 2008[1]) with the purchase of ETH Zurich spin-off NovodeX in 2004. The term PhysX can also refer to the PPU expansion card designed by Ageia to accelerate PhysX-enabled video games.
Video games supporting hardware acceleration by PhysX can be accelerated by either a PhysX PPU or a CUDA-enabled GeForce GPU (if it has at least 32 CUDA cores), thus offloading physics calculations from the CPU, allowing it to perform other tasks instead. This typically results in a smoother gaming experience and additional visual effects.
Middleware physics engines allow game developers to avoid writing their own code to handle the complex physics interactions possible in modern games. PhysX has provided physical simulation for more than 300 games.[2]
The PhysX engine and SDK are available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3,[3][4] Xbox 360[5] and the Wii.[6] The PhysX SDK is provided to developers of all platforms for free, both for commercial and non-commercial use.[7]
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What is known today as PhysX originated as a physics simulation engine called NovodeX. The multi-threaded engine was developed by Swiss company NovodeX AG. In 2004, Ageia acquired NovodeX AG and began developing a hardware technology that could accelerate physics calculations, aiding the CPU. Ageia called the technology PhysX PPU (physics processing unit), and the SDK was renamed from NovodeX to PhysX.[8]
In 2008, Ageia was itself acquired by graphics technology manufacturer Nvidia. Nvidia started enabling PhysX hardware acceleration on its line of GeForce graphics cards[9] and eventually dropped support for Ageia PPUs.[10]
PhysX is a multi-threaded physics simulation SDK available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. It supports rigid body dynamics, soft body dynamics, ragdolls and character controllers, vehicle dynamics, volumetric fluid simulation and cloth simulation including tearing and pressurized cloth.
Nvidia APEX technology is a multi-platform scalable dynamics framework first introduced in the Mafia II video game in August 2010.[11] Nvidia's APEX engine comprises the following features: APEX Destruction, APEX Clothing, APEX Particles, APEX Vegetation, and APEX Turbulence.[12]
A physics processing unit (PPU) is a processor specially designed to alleviate the calculation burden on the CPU, specifically calculations involving physics. PPU cards with PhysX support were available from the manufacturers ASUS, BFG Technologies[13] and ELSA Technology. Beginning with version 2.8.3 of the PhysX SDK, support for PPU cards was dropped, and PPU cards are no longer manufactured.[10]
After Nvidia's acquisition of Ageia, PhysX development turned away from PPU extension cards and focused instead on the GPGPU capabilities of modern GPUs. A graphics processing unit or GPU (also occasionally called visual processing unit or VPU) is a dedicated graphics rendering device for a personal computer, workstation or game console. Modern GPUs are very efficient at manipulating and displaying computer graphics, and their highly parallel structure makes them more effective than general-purpose CPUs for a range of complex algorithms, such as accelerating physical simulations using PhysX. A GPU can sit on top of a video card, or it can be integrated directly into the motherboard. More than 90% of new desktop and notebook computers have integrated GPUs.
Any CUDA-ready GeForce graphics card (series 8 and newer, with a minimum of 32 cores and 256MB of video memory[14]) can take advantage of PhysX without the need to install a dedicated PhysX card.
Versions 186 and newer of the ForceWare drivers disable PhysX hardware acceleration if a GPU from a different manufacturer, such as AMD, is present in the system.[14] Representatives at Nvidia stated to customers that the decision was made due to development expenses, and for quality assurance and business reasons.[15] This decision has caused a backlash from the community that led to the creation of a community patch for Windows 7, circumventing the GPU check in Nvidia's updated drivers. To counter this patch, Nvidia implemented a time bomb in driver versions 196 and 197 that slowed down hardware accelerated PhysX and reversed the gravity,[16] but an updated version of the patch removed all unwanted effects.[17]
On 5 July 2010, Real World Technologies published an analysis[18] of the PhysX architecture. According to this analysis, most of the code used in PhysX applications is based on x87 instructions without any multi-threading optimization. This could cause significant performance drops when running PhysX code on the CPU. The article suggests that a PhysX rewrite using SSE instructions may substantially lessen the performance discrepancy between CPU PhysX and GPU PhysX.
In response to the Real World Technologies analysis, Mike Skolones, product manager of PhysX, said[19] that SSE support had been left behind because most games are developed for consoles first and then ported to the PC. As a result, modern computers run these games faster and better than the consoles even with little or no optimization. Senior PR manager of Nvidia, Bryan Del Rizzo, explained that multi-threading was already available with CPU PhysX 2.x and that it was up to the developer to make use of it. He also stated that automatic multithreading and SSE would be introduced with version 3 of the PhysX SDK.[20]
PhysX SDK 3.0 was released in May 2011 and represented a significant rewrite of the SDK, bringing improvements such as more efficient multithreading and a unified code base for all supported platforms.[2]
PhysX technology is used by the game engines Unreal Engine 3, Unity 3D, Gamebryo, Vision, Instinct, Diesel, Torque, Hero and BigWorld[21] and is the physics platform of more than 300 video games,[2] such as Bulletstorm, Need for Speed: Shift or Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Most of these games use the GPU to process the physics simulations.
Video games with optional support for hardware accelerated PhysX, often with additional effects such as tearable cloth, dynamic smoke or simulated particle debris,[22][23][24] include:[25]
| GAME TITLE | Release | Type of acceleration | DirectX | PhysX effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alice: Madness Returns | 2011-06-14 | GPU | 9 | debris and particle simulation, destructible environments, fluid simulation |
| 7554 | 2011-11-26 | GPU | 9 | rigid body simulation, vehicle simulation, destructible environments, cloth simulation |
| Arma 3 (upcoming) | 2012 | TBA | 11, 10 | |
| Auto Assault | 2006-04-11 | PPU | 9 | fluid simulation, improved destructibility of objects |
| Batman: Arkham Asylum | 2009-09-15 | GPU or PPU | 9 | dynamic fog and steam, dynamic tearable cloth and cobwebs, spark effects,
dynamic paper and leaves, additional rigid bodies, destructible environments |
| Batman: Arkham City | 2011-11-08 | GPU | 11, 9[26] | dynamic fog and steam, dynamic bank notes, posters etc., additional rigid bodies,
destructible environments, cloth simulation, debris and particle effects |
| Bet on Soldier: Black-Out Saigon | 2007-05-29 | PPU | ? | |
| Bet on Soldier: Blood of Sahara | 2006-11-09 | PPU | 9 | |
| Bet on Soldier: Blood Sport | 2005-09-26 | PPU | 9 | |
| CellFactor: Combat Training | 2006-05-09 | PPU | 9 | |
| CellFactor: Revolution | 2007-05-08 | PPU | ? | fluid simulation, cloth simulation |
| City of Villains | 2005-10-28 | PPU | 9 | additional levels |
| Crazy Machines 2 | 2007-10-15 | GPU or PPU | 9 | fluid simulation |
| Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason | 2008-12-05 | GPU or PPU | 10, 9 | fluid simulation, particle physics, spark effects |
| Dark Void | 2010-04-21 | GPU | 9 | dynamic smoke, particle physics |
| Darkest of Days | 2009-09-08 | GPU | 9 | debris simulation, dynamic fog and smoke, dynamic leaves |
| Deep Black (upcoming) | Dec 2011 | GPU | 9 | |
| Hot Dance Party | 2008-03-31 | GPU | ||
| Hot Dance Party II | 2008-08-05 | GPU | ||
| Infernal | 2007-05-09 | PPU | 9 | |
| Jianxia 3 | 2011-05-19 | GPU | ||
| Mafia II | 2010-08-24 | GPU | 9 | additional debris (up to 10,000 pieces at a time), dynamic cloth, dynamic smoke |
| Metal Knight Zero Online (upcoming) | TBA | GPU | ||
| Metro 2033 | 2010-03-16 | GPU | 11, 10, 9 | debris simulation, dynamic smoke |
| Metro: Last Light (upcoming) | 2012 | GPU | ||
| Mirror's Edge | 2009-01-13 | GPU or PPU | 9 | debris and glass shard simulation, dynamic tearable cloth, spark effects,
dynamic fog and steam |
| MStar | 2011-06-30 | GPU | 9 | |
| Sacred 2: Fallen Angel | 2008-11-07 | GPU | 10, 9 | particle physics, dynamic leaves and rocks |
| Sacred 2: Ice & Blood (expansion) | 2009-10-02 | GPU | 10, 9 | particle physics, dynamic leaves and rocks |
| Shadowgrounds Survivor | 2007-11-14 | PPU | ? | |
| Star Trek DAC | 2009-11-12 | GPU | debris simulation | |
| Stoked Rider: Alaska Alien | 2006-12-14 | PPU | 9 | avalanche simulation |
| Switchball | 2007-06-26 | PPU | 7 | fluid simulation |
| Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter | 2006-05-03 | PPU | 9 | debris simulation |
| Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 | 2007-06-28 | GPU or PPU | 9 | debris simulation, dynamic tearable cloth, dynamic tree and plant simulation,
particle effects, additional level with destructible environments |
| Unreal Tournament 3 | 2007-11-19 | GPU or PPU | 9 | additional levels |
| Warmonger: Operation Downtown Destruction[27] | 2007-11-29 | GPU or PPU | destructible environments, dynamic tearable cloth, particle physics |
Other software with PhysX support includes:
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