PhysX unlocked on an RTX 5090 system using an unconventional method: Everything you need to know

In case you are unaware, Nvidia quietly removed 32-bit PhysX processing capabilities from the latest RTX 50 series GPUs. The PhysX processor is used in many games to calculate complex physics simulations, like wind effects on clothes, glass shattering, realistic smoke effects, and more.

Since the 32-bit PhysX processor was deprecated on the latest RTX 50 series GPUs, playing games with PhsyX enabled runs terribly with huge FPS drops that go below 20 in some cases. That's because those games defaulted to using the CPU as the PhysX processor.

For context, PhysX is a proprietary technology that uses parallel processing to calculate complex physics. CPUs don't have such levels of parallel processing capabilities to finish the task quickly, leading to massive FPS drops. Besides, due to the proprietary nature of the technology, PhysX is emulated on the CPU rather than running natively, which further hurts the performance.

Playing PhysX games on PCs with RTX 5090 or other RTX 50 series GPUs was believed to be impossible until a Reddit user did the unthinkable. Read on to find out how this user enabled PhysX on an RTX 5090 PC.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and reflect only the writer's opinion.

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PhysX enabled on an RTX 5090 PC using RTX 3050 as a secondary GPU

RTX 5090 PC with a secondary RTX 3050 GPU (Image via Jerubedo on Reddit)

Most modern full ATX motherboards have a secondary PCIe x16 slot, and a Reddit user, Jerubedo, had a brilliant idea on how to utilize that. This user's PC already had an Nvidia RTX 5090 but they decided to add a second GPU to do the PhysX processing on behalf of the main graphics card.

For the second GPU, Jerubedo installed the RTX 3050 6GB model, which can run without requiring any PCIe power cables due to its lower power requirements. The RTX 3050 is also cheaper and smaller, so it would easily fit most cases.

The user went to the Nvidia Control Panel and chose the RTX 3050 as the PhysX processor instead of the CPU before testing it live on games.

RTX 3050 is used as a PhysX processor in the Nvidia Control Panel (Image via Jerubedo on Reddit)

The games that use PhysX, such as Mafia II Classic, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Mirror's Edge, and more, saw a big boost in performance with the new setup. Here's how these games performed on the RTX 5090 vs the RTX 5090 + 3050 Frankenstein setup:

Games	RTX 5090 PC	RTX 5090 + 3050 Frankenstein setup
Mafia II Classic	29 FPS	157 FPS
Batman: Arkham Asylum	61 FPS with dips to the 20s and 30s in some areas	390 FPS
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag	62 FPS (Engine lock)	62 FPS (Engine lock)
Mirror's Edge	12 FPS	171 FPS

The performance jump with the new setup was huge, showcasing why Nvidia shouldn't have deprecated the PhsyX processor from the newer RTX 50 series GPUs. However, not everything is rosy with the new setup. Borderlands 2 refused to use the Nvidia RTX 3050 as the PhysX processor and defaulted to using the CPU for its processing. Therefore, there were no performance improvements for this game.

It seems not every game will respect this setup, which is certainly a bummer. Not to mention, most average RTX 50 series users cannot or will not buy a second GPU for a PhysX processor. This will lock them out from smoothly playing the above games on their PCs.

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Is it the end of PhysX physics simulation processing?

Since Nvidia has officially deprecated the PhysX processor, it's impossible to add it to newer games. Nvidia also removed it from CUDA Toolkit version 12.0 and later. This effectively marks the end of PhysX technology in modern games and hardware. However, PhysX-based games will continue to run just fine on old GPUs that have it.

Modern-day game engines can process complex physics simulations just fine on their own. Some may even argue that they are more efficient now compared to PhysX, which is why you won't find it in modern games.

In fact, a 2019 Remedy game called Control featured an advanced physics-based destructive game world where you can break many objects, including walls and floors, and debris will spread out in response. All this physics-based destructive system was achieved in Remedy's Northlight engine natively without requiring proprietary technology like PhysX.