Nvidia to release GPU PhysX pack next week

Posted at: 5:48pm 29th July 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

PhysX support added to GeForce 8 and 9-series cards, and a bundle of demos too

Now this is what we call quick work. Just over six months after acquiring Ageia, Nvidia has not only ported PhysX over to CUDA, but it’s now set to release a WHQL GPU PhysX driver on 5 August, along with a bunch of other PhysX goodies.

Nvidia’s product PR manager for Northern Europe, Ben Berraondo, told Custom PC that ‘on 5 August a PhysX pack goes out, which enables PhysX for all GeForce 8 and 9 series GPUs, and also the GTX 280 and 260.’ The pack not only includes a WHQL PhysX driver, but also features various PhysX demos.

According to Berraondo, two of these were demonstrated at Nvidia’s Editors’ Day in the US a few months ago, but there’s also a new fluid dynamics demo which hasn’t been seen yet. The pack will also add full game support for current PhysX-supporting titles, such as Unreal Tournament 3, Warmonger and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 1 and 2.

It looks as though PhysX packs are going to be regular releases too. Berraondo told Custom PC that ‘we’re going to try to release a PhysX pack now on pretty much a monthly or bi-monthly basis, and that won’t include a new driver every time, but it will include new software that uses PhysX.’

Of course, Nvidia’s purchase of Ageia will only really pay off if plenty of new PhysX-supporting games are released, and it looks as though these may well be on the way. Although no official announcements have been made by the game publishers yet, we have it on good authority that EA’s forthcoming DC comics tie-in, Mirror’s Edge, which is being penned by former Custom PC scribe Rhianna Pratchett, will support PhysX. As well as this, Bionic Commando and Backbreaker are also rumoured to support PhysX, although none of this has been confirmed yet.

Still, owners of GeForce cards from the 8-series and up can’t complain, as they’re effectively getting PhysX support for free on cards that are up to a year and half old now. Will you be downloading the new PhysX pack next week? Will PhysX be important in games in the coming years? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.