Nvidia's RTX 50-series graphics cards have many excited, but there's also intense scrutiny of its high price point and disappointing generational leap in power.
We previously covered how RTX 5080 reviews were less than excellent, with many critics seeing marginal increases in performance when compared to 40-series GPUs. At the very least, the RTX 5080's MSRP of $999 is more affordable than the 4080's launch price of $1,199, but it's clear that this generation isn't off to the hottest start.
RTX 50-series GPUs also began to suffer from melting power cables. Plain and simply, Nvidia is finding itself under some criticism of late — which isn't much of a surprise, as this happens every time a new generation of GPUs launch. However, the list of reasons to avoid an RTX 50-series GPU seems to be growing.
Nvidia published a forum back in January (via Tom's Hardware) detailing its support plan for 32-bit CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) and the news is dire: "CUDA Driver will not support 32-bit CUDA applications on GeForce RTX 50 series (Blackwell) and newer architectures."
By extension, Nvidia PhysX is not supported in 32-bit executables if you're using an RTX 50-series GPU, meaning the beloved physics engine will no longer function optimally when playing older titles. Here's why you should care if you don't already.
The Nvidia RTX 50-series is understandably disappointing some
Nvidia PhysX is a physics engine initially developed in the early 2000s by NovodeX AG before Ageia acquired the technology and started developing dedicated PhysX cards. When the company was acquired by Nvidia, the PhysX engine was developed to work on GeForce GPUs with CUDA.
It's an admittedly old technology, and PhysX doesn't see much use in modern games — likely why Nvidia has discontinued 32-bit CUDA support on modern GPUs. However, the result is that old-school gamers will no longer be able to enjoy this complex physics engine on a pretty large selection of titles launched between the late 2000s and mid-2010s.
One example of Nvidia PhysX features in the above trailer for Batman: Arkham Asylum, where we can see explosions causing a chain reaction of tiles to fling into the air, Batman launching an opponent into a table before it breaks into pieces, and even something as simple as the swaying of fabric.
PCGamingWiki features a full list of titles that it believes feature PhysX support with only 32-bit Windows executables. The full list is 211 games long, but here are some highlights:
- Alice: Madness Returns
- Alpha Protocol
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
- Batman: Arkham Asylum / City / Origins
- BioShock Infinite
- Borderlands / Borderlands 2 / Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
- DmC: Devil May Cry
- Dragon Age: Origins / Dragon Age: II
- Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
- Gears of War
- Mafia II
- The Mass Effect trilogy
- Metro 2033 / Metro: Last Light
- Mirror's Edge
- Payday 2
- South Park: The Stick of Truth
- Spec Ops: The Line
- Trine / Trine 2
- Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Lack of PhsyX support doesn't mean you cannot play these games. It simply means the simulated physics in certain titles will not function optimally, as it often means the CPU will have to do the hard work.
As you could probably expect, this won't impact those who don't particularly care about older titles, and modern gamers won't even notice the slightest difference. But it's important to keep in mind that Nvidia's latest GPUs no longer support this technology on older games that utilize 32-bit CUDA.
64-bit games that use PhysX, like Batman: Arkham Knight, will still function on Nvidia RTX 50-series GPUs. It's simply the older titles that are being left out in the dust.
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