NVIDIA's RTX 50 series slows down classic games after dropping PhysX support

NVIDIA's RTX 50 series has officially dropped support for 32-bit CUDA applications, including 32-bit PhysX. As a result, older games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Borderlands 2, and Assassin's Creed: Black Flag - which relied on GPU-accelerated PhysX - will now shift physics calculations to the CPU, leading to significant performance drops on RTX 5000 series GPUs.

The issues were first reported by users on the NVIDIA forums, who highlighted issues with enabling PhysX in Borderlands 2. NVIDIA support responded by stating:

This is expected behavior as 32-bit CUDA applications are deprecated on GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs:

With NVIDIA's PhysX officially dead, owners of the RTX 5000 series can expect to see significant slowdowns in games that rely on GPU-accelerated PhysX. A Reddit user reported performance as low as 60fps in Borderlands 2, with a 9800X3D and RTX 5090. Some of the most popular titles that are affected by this change include:

• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Batman: Arkham City
• Batman: Arkham Origins
• Borderlands 2
• Bulletstorm
• Mafia 2
• Metro: 2033
• Metro: Last Light
• Mirror's Edge

ResetEra users have been testing and documenting how the RTX 5000 series affects 32-bit PhysX games, compiling a full list of impacted titles and performance changes.

Given the shift to 64-bit only CUDA computing, the removal of 32-bit PhysX support was not unexpected. However, seeing the performance impact on older PhysX-heavy games undoubtedly took gamers off guard. After all, if you're running a brand new, $1000 RTX 5080, you'd expect to see high frames on an older game like Arkham Asylum. Technically, 64-bit PhysX is still supported, but there are very few well-known games that utilize 64-bit PhysX.

If you own an RTX 4000 series or older GPU, you're in luck. These legacy 32-bit games will still run with full GPU acceleration, avoiding the performance drops seen on RTX 5000 series GPUs. However, if you're holding out for an RTX 5000 series upgrade due to stock shortages, keep in mind that older PhysX-powered games may take a performance hit.