3-year-old RTX 3050 saves the RTX 5090 in these 32-bit PhysX benchmarks
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If you are a fan of older PhysX-enabled games, you may have heard the bad news about Nvidia dropping PhysX 32-bit support in its latest RTX 50 series GPUs. Since then, we’ve seen a number of benchmarks showing the RTX 5090 struggling to keep up with GPUs like the GTX 980 Ti when enabling the PhysX Effects settings. However, what we haven’t seen is a solution to this problem that allows players on the latest RTX 50 series GPUs to enjoy these older titles with higher frame rates and realistic effects.
Well, it seems like one user has found a way to enjoy the benefits of DLSS 4 and Multi-Frame Gen while also playing titles like Batman Arkham Asylum without having to turn off PhysX effects. This comes from Reddit, where user u/jerubedo bought a 3050 as a “dedicated PhysX card” alongside their RTX 5090 to get better PhysX performance in older 32-bit titles. Benchmarks show the RTX 3050 fulfilling its only purpose in this system quite well.
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RTX 3050 handles older titles with 32-bit PhysX with ease
It is safe to say that having an RTX 3050 saving the day wasn’t something 5090 owners expected to rely on. For instance, in Mafia II Classic, running the title without the 3050 at max settings – meaning PhysX is handled by the CPU – outputs just 28 FPS, whereas running it with the 3050 results in a whopping 157 FPS. Similarly, in Batman: Arkham Asylum, CPU-based PhysX at max settings results in 60 FPS, but the user reports major dips to the 30 FPS range. On the other hand, offloading PhysX to the 3050 boosted performance to well around 400 FPS.
| 32-bit PhysX title | CPU-based PhysX performance | GPU based PhysX performance (RTX 3050) |
|---|---|---|
| Mafia II (Classic) | 28 FPS | 157 FPS |
| Batman: Arkham Asylum | 60 FPS (dropping to low 30s and 40s) | 390 FPS |
| Borderlands 2 | Could not enable PhysX | 122 FPS |
| Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag | 62 FPS | 62 FPS |
| Mirror’s Edge | 12 FPS | 171 FPS |
Interestingly, in Borderlands 2, the user was unable to enable PhysX settings at all, leaving them only able to test it on the dedicated PhysX card, which outputted 122 FPS. However, we've seen other tests running Borderlands 2 with PhysX on the RTX 5080, where performance dropped to just 15 FPS in some scenes. That said, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag showed identical FPS for both configurations at 62 FPS.
Don’t retire your old GPU just yet
Now this is definitely a working solution but to make it work you will need another GPU dedicated to PhysX. The user mentions choosing the RTX 3050 due to its small size and power efficiency. However, an RTX 3050 isn’t the only alternative. If you have an older GTX 1050 Ti or even the GTX 980 Ti lying around, you could use that for 32-bit PhysX titles and the performance will be miles ahead of running PhysX on an RTX 50 series GPU. Otherwise, your only other solution is to turn off the effects.
That said, one interesting detail from the post was that as per the user, in 64-bit PhysX titles, the games were ignoring the control panel settings and offloading the PhysX load onto the RTX 5090 anyway. There’s no mention of a specific title but this suggests that in games like Batman: Arkham Knight, your RTX 50 series GPU should be enough to handle all the effects without issues.
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