Nvidia Driver 591.44 Restores PhysX for RTX 50 Series

Nvidia has released its latest Game Ready driver, version 591.44, restoring GPU-accelerated PhysX support for a selection of classic games on the RTX 50 series graphics cards, addressing performance issues that arose after the GPUs launched earlier this year without the feature.

The update reverses a decision made at the RTX 50 series debut, when Nvidia discontinued support for 32-bit CUDA components essential to older PhysX implementations. PhysX, a physics simulation technology Nvidia acquired from Ageia in 2008, enables realistic effects such as cloth dynamics, particle simulations, smoke, and debris in games. Without GPU acceleration, affected titles defaulted to CPU processing, resulting in significant frame rate drops, sometimes below 60 frames per second in demanding scenes. Gamers reported workarounds, including installing older Nvidia cards solely for PhysX tasks, highlighting the frustration among players of legacy titles.

With driver 591.44, Nvidia introduces custom profiles that reinstate full GPU acceleration for nine popular PhysX-reliant games: Alice: Madness Returns, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, Borderlands 2,...