NVIDIA PhysX Drivers FAQ

Here is NVIDIA's official FAQ on the PhysX drivers.

Q : Where can I download the PhysX drivers?
A : You can download the new PhysX drivers (WHQL version 8.06.12) from here or you can download the new graphics driver package, version 177.39, which includes the PhysX drivers, from here.

Q : What cards work with the PhysX drivers?
A : The PhysX drivers work with GeForce 9800 GTX, GeForce GTX 280, and GeForce 260 GPUs. Drivers for all other GeForce 8 or GeForce 9-Series GPUs will be posted in July.

Q : What applications currently work with the PhysX drivers?
A : 3DMark Vantage and Unreal Tournament 3 PhysX Mod Pack are currently supported.

Q : Where can I get the Unreal Tournament PhysX Mod Pack?
A : You can download it from here.

Q . What else do I need to do to enable PhysX in 3DMarkVantage and Unreal
Tournament 3?
A : Once the driver is installed, PhysX runs on the GPU out of the box for 3DMark Vantage and Unreal Tournament 3. The only setting that UT3 users need to make sure is enabled is “Hardware Physics” in Video Settings.

Q : Are there any other games that supported the PhysX PPU that are not yet
supported on the GPU?
A : Yes, we are in the process of porting over some of those titles from the PPU to the GPU. We will post updated drivers when available.

Q : Is the PhysX version used by 3DMark Vantage special or different?
A : The version of PhysX SDK that 3DMarkVantage uses is identical to that for any game which uses PhysX SDK version 2.7.3. For example, Unreal Tournament III uses the same PhysX SDK as 3DMark Vantage.

Q : Are there special code paths in this version just for 3DMark Vantage?
A : No.

Q : What happens when PhysX acceleration is enabled?
A : 3DMarkVantage gives the user an option to enable or disable PhysX HW acceleration. When enabled, the PhysX SDK 2.7.3 runtime will use any PhysX HW acceleration available. This is analogous to the way the benchmark uses graphics - it calls a graphics API which automatically connects and calls drivers for graphics processors in the system.

Q : Does the new NVIDIA PhysX installer patch any 3DMarkVantage Files?
A : No, the PhysX installer only manages files that come part of the standard PhysX installer and not any files which are part of the benchmark.

Q : Does the new NVIDIA PhysX installer affect the way 3DMarkVantage runs
code?
A : No. The new PhysX drivers do not change the way the physics was designed to run in the game.

Q : How does 3DMarkVantage calculate the score for CPU Test 2?
A : It runs simulations for 15 seconds and counts total the number of simulation timesteps that are computed during this time.

Q : Why are there more airplanes/gates when PhysX HW acceleration is enabled?
A : 3DMark Vantage creates several physics worlds to ensure that there is enough workload for a large number of CPU cores. For instance, if there are N CPU cores, there are N-1 physics worlds running on the CPU. If there is HW acceleration, there are 4 additional physics worlds. Since the score is determined by counting the total number of world time-steps in 15 seconds, the number of worlds does not affect the benchmark results.

Q : Is 3DMarkVantage installing and running PhysX differently than games?
A : No. 3DMarkVantage uses and installs the PhysX runtimes just like any other game. There are not separate PhysX runtimes for different applications.

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Questions & Comments

If you have a question or comment on this editorial, please feel free to post them here!