In case you don’t already know, PhysX is a real time physics engine that can handle the complex physics interactions so common in modern games. Using this technology can make the games seem more life-like, resulting in a smoother gaming experience with several really cool  visual effects. PhysX support for ATI graphics was not available so gamers using ATI looked for a hack to let them use this technology.  It took a long time for the tinkers to get Physx up and running with ATI GPUs (graphics processing units).

A GPU is a special processing unit that is dedicated to rendering graphics for a computer or game console. A GPU can sit on top of any video card, or it can be integrated directly into the computer’s motherboard. Approximately 90% of all new desktop and notebook computers have GPUs integrated into the motherboard. Integrated GPUs have far less capabilities than the add -on Variety. Since a large percentage of these new machines use ATI graphics, the hack has made it possible to get PhysX quality gaming for a lot less money.

It’s seems that Nvidia did not like the idea of tinkers using their proprietary technology with ATI graphics even though the tinkers bought a Nvidia card to make everything work (albeit, they bought a considerably less expensive card than the GeForce cards with PhysX built into them).

So What is Nvidia’s Solution?

Nvidia’s latest ForceWare drivers disable PhysX hardware acceleration when the computer is using a GPU from any other  manufacturer’s GPUs, such as AMD’s ATI GPU.

The backlash in the gaming community has led to the creation of a patch for Windows 7 that circumvents the GPU check in Nvidia’s updated drivers. If you decide to upgrade your computer to Windows, make sure you get this patch before you attempt to upgrade your drivers. If you are using one of the older windows operating systems, the bad news is you’ll just have to delete the new drivers and re-install to older one.

Conclusion

Nvidia’s reason for disabling PhysX hardware acceleration via its latest driver update is to ostensibly avoid quality assurance problems and other business reasons. Let me guess, the other business reasons couldn’t possibly be eliminating the competition so gamers have to shell out the money to buy a more expensive GPU for their systems, could it?