NVIDIA PhysX
From PhysX Wiki
NVIDIA PhysX logo
NVIDIA PhysX Technology (NVIDIA PhysX, PhysX by NVIDIA, GPU PhysX) is a marketing term, used by NVIDIA to designate ability of GeForce GPUs to accelerate physics calculations, and games that are using that ability to create more rich physical effects.
NVIDIA PhysX = more immersive gaming experience for owners of NVIDIA GPUs.
So how it works:
- NVIDIA owns physics middleware - PhysX SDK. It is a normal physics engine (just like Havok, ODE or Bullet), widely used in PC and console games, but with one particular feature - hardware acceleration.
- Certain PhysX SDK based games are taking advantage of that feature by containing supplementary PhysX effects - smoke and fluid simulation, dynamic clothing on characters, more vivid explosions with dust and debris.
- From hardware part, NVIDIA GeForce GPUs series 8xxx and higher are required to calculate such PhysX effects and provide decent framerate.
As result, games like Alice Madness Returns are looking much more impressive and lively with PhysX option enabled.
Generally speaking, GPU PhysX is an exclusive content for owners of compatible GPUs.
External links
- Official PhysX Technology page at GeForce.com
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