FIX for poor PhysX performance

[rainingsteel]

Okay, I know a few people have experienced poor PhysX performance, myself included. I was getting 10FPS with PhysX on full in the benchmark, even though I had a dedicated PhysX card. I knew something was wrong!

If you think your benchmark for Mafia II with PhysX is lower than it should be, try these steps.

First of all... If you don't have an Nvidia card, move along please, this thread has nothing to do with you!

Go into the Nvidia Control Panel. Under "Select a Task", select "3D Settings", then in the menu bar at the top, select the "3D Settings" and make sure that "Show PhysX Visual Indicator" is checked!

Once you've done that, start up Mafia II with PhysX enabled (either Medium or High). The PhysX Visual indicator will say either [PhysX > GPU] or [PhysX > CPU]. If it says GPU then it's running fine. If it says CPU (and this is a common bug) then PhysX is running on your main processor rather than your nice expensive graphics card!

The fix seems to be to firstly install the latest Nvidia beta drivers (259.31)...

Win7/Vista (32 bit) (http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-Forceware-259.31-Win7-%7C-Vista-32-bit-download-2602.html)
Win7/Vista (64 bit) (http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-Forceware-259.31-Win-7-%7C-Vista-64-bit-download-2603.html)
WinXP (http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-Forceware-259.31-Windows-XP-32-bit-download-2601.html)


Secondly, go to control panel and uninstall the Nvidia PhysX software

Finally, reinstall the PhysX software. For me, it is in this folder...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\mafia ii - public demo\3rd


Then try the benchmark again, the [PhysX > GPU] should be shown and you should get much better FPS. Let me know if this works for you.

[cryfreedom66]

works...thanks!

[jp3man]

Can't find the "show PhysX Visual Indicator" in my list..

[Buttered Toast]

I don't think installing those drivers will do much in terms of performance as they are a developer driver release. I'm using the 258.96 drivers.

I did uninstall and reinstall PhysX from the Mafia II\3rd folder and that brought a good increase from performance.

I have a GTX 460 and with PhysX on High I was getting avg. 10 FPS in the benchmark and after reinstalling PhysX I now get avg. 25 FPS in the benchmark.

EDIT: For reference, with PhysX on Medium I get avg. 26 FPS and with PhysX Off I get avg. 40 FPS

[Fatality1963]

I didn't bother uninstalling my video card drivers. However I did uninstall and then reinstall my physx drivers and this fixed my poor fps issue as well. I had to turn off physx in game prior to this fix to play decently. Now I can turn physx on full after reinstalling the physx drivers.

Thanks for the tip.

[MalthViking.]

There's a new physx driver that was released today

http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx-9.10.0513-driver.html

[Buttered Toast]

There's a new physx driver that was released today

http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx-9.10.0513-driver.html

Using that version of PhysX on High I got 27.1 FPS compared to 25 FPS with v9.10.0512 that came with the demo. I guess every little bit counts lol

[jp3man]

There's a new physx driver that was released today

http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx-9.10.0513-driver.html

Testing Now

[MalthViking.]

It gave me a 5 fps boost to 20fps, which is nice but still isn't enough to make the game playable really with it enabled

[Azath]

nice tip,this way physx is loaded to GPU from CPU,its pretty solid fps(45-50)with gtx295 single card with medium physx.

q9650 @stock 3.0ghz
gtx295
4gb 1066 mhz ddr2

[JK_DC]

Doesn't work. It still runs like crap. It only fixed PhysX in older games.

[Lullebulle]

Okay, I know a few people have experienced poor PhysX performance, myself included. I was getting 10FPS with PhysX on full in the benchmark, even though I had a dedicated PhysX card. I knew something was wrong!

If you think your benchmark for Mafia II with PhysX is lower than it should be, try these steps.

First of all... If you don't have an Nvidia card, move along please, this thread has nothing to do with you!

Go into the Nvidia Control Panel. Under "Select a Task", select "3D Settings", then in the menu bar at the top, select the "3D Settings" and make sure that "Show PhysX Visual Indicator" is checked!

Once you've done that, start up Mafia II with PhysX enabled (either Medium or High). The PhysX Visual indicator will say either [PhysX > GPU] or [PhysX > CPU]. If it says GPU then it's running fine. If it says CPU (and this is a common bug) then PhysX is running on your main processor rather than your nice expensive graphics card!

The fix seems to be to firstly install the latest Nvidia beta drivers (259.31)...

Win7/Vista (32 bit) (http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-Forceware-259.31-Win7-%7C-Vista-32-bit-download-2602.html)
Win7/Vista (64 bit) (http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-Forceware-259.31-Win-7-%7C-Vista-64-bit-download-2603.html)
WinXP (http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-Forceware-259.31-Windows-XP-32-bit-download-2601.html)


Secondly, go to control panel and uninstall the Nvidia PhysX software

Finally, reinstall the PhysX software. For me, it is in this folder...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\mafia ii - public demo\3rd


Then try the benchmark again, the [PhysX > GPU] should be shown and you should get much better FPS. Let me know if this works for you.

Thank you very much.... now I can't remove that ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ "PHYSX > GPU" text :(
No matter how I unbock / bock the option, it unbocks automatically after the game.

[JK_DC]

okay I am using 197.41 drivers and I disabled SLI and plugged the PhysX card into my monitor and I got it working, but the demo ended up crashing on me after awhile so I need to test further. The benchmark went from 40 to 48 fps with all settings on and max. I don't think the newer drivers work with Nhancer so this should do for now. The game also runs much smoother than it did with PhysX off and SLI on.

[MrXGamer]

After installing this physx, I'm getting frequent driver crashes with latest WHQL. Not just in Mafia II, I mean in every game. Is anyone else having problems?

[NasherUK]

Didn't work for me :(

[mathesar]

Im not sure if the game is performing the way it should for me, It's very playable but I have an i7 920 @ 3.2ghz, GTX 480 and a GTX 260(dedicatd physx card) the in game benchmark runs 40.6fps @ 1920x1080 with Physx set on High and everything else enabled, does that sound about right?

I have Physx set to use the GTX260 in Nvidia control panel, the visual indicator just shows "GPU".

In game settings (http://ded.zenblue.net/mafia2_settings_physx_high.jpg)

Benchmark result (http://ded.zenblue.net/mafia2_physx_high_results.jpg)

[Soil_ES]

Thankfully Nvidia has been quick to solve the problem. Having the latest official Geforce drivers installed and then installing the Mafia 2 demo disabled PhysX GPU acceleration in all applications. That's a really nasty bug in the PhysX system software that came with the demo...

Now, if you haven't ******* on 2K and uninstalled the demo, it should have updated itself automatically, and now you will find in:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\mafia ii - public demo\3rd

a new version of the PhysX system software:

PhysX_9.10.0513_SystemSoftware.msi

Install that software and everything will work fine again. No need to install beta Geforce drivers.



@mathesar: That sounds more than right. Since 2K recommends a dedicated GTX 285 for PhysX in order to play with PhysX set on High, you should be glad to be able to play at 40fps with a 260. I do have the recommended graphic cards configuration (480 + 285) - OK, I had since a year and a half the 285 and was more than happy with it, not thinking about buying a new card until I saw the recommended system for Mafia 2 and ordered the 480 to be able to play at full throttle (yes, I loved Mafia THAT MUCH) - and I only get 34 fps with the same settings as you. Admittedly, my processor and motherboard are crap compared to yours (just a Phenom 965) so I'm really happy with the performance. Fps figures aside, the game runs smoothly all the time no matter how much destruction takes place.

[CelticKennedy]

Umm call me clueless, but I was wondering. Are some people able to get good performance with one card with physx turned on? I have a gtx 460. The first time I played the demo max settings with physx on medium while retaining decent FPS. After playing a second time I got to a point in the warehouse gun battle and the FPS came to a crawl.
Then going back and testing other games I use to run fine with physx turned on now have horrible performance.

So I guess my main questions are; can a single GTX 460 handle medium physx?
Did something get fired on my card?
And if not, will installing the new drivers fix the problem?

Specs
Intel Quad Core 2.8Ghz
Windows 7 64 bit
8GB RAM
GTX 460

[JK_DC]

No. One of my 470's can get up to 50% utilization just from the PhysX alone. My GPU is pegged at 99%. You definitely need two cards to have PhysX.

[Smerjel]

After reading alot about the performance and physx in Mafia II, I decided to bench up the facts for my own with different configurations and thought I'd share them here.

ATI Drivers: CCC 10.7 & 10.8 + 10.8aCAP
Nvidia Drivers: 258.96, PhysX 9.10.0513

All benchmarks conducted with 2560x1600 resolution and maximum ingame settings, including physx on high and AA on, unless stated otherwise. Windows 7 x64. Mafia II full game.

CPU - 4.0Ghz i7
RAM - 6gb 1600MHz Cas:6
MB - Rampage II Extreme
Pri.HDD - 2xIntel SSD G2 (R0)
Games HDD - 3xVelociraptor (R0)
Audio - X-Fi titanium PCI-E
PSU - TTT 1200W
Cooling - Thermalright IFX-14 CPU cooler
Chassi - Dimastech Benchtable, easy.

Graphic cards tested:
2x5970
GTX480
GTX470

CCC 10.7
2x5970 CFX = 16,8fps - Peak system power=635w
2x5970 CFX Physx OFF = 88.8fps - Peak system power=714w

CCC 10.8+10.8aCAP
2x5970 CFX = 17.8fps - Peak system power=634w
2x5970 CFX, physx OFF = 90.8fps - Peak system power=723w
2x5970 CFX+GTX480 dedicated physx = 33.1fps - Peak system power=638w
2x5970 CFX+GTX480 dedicated physx, NO AA = 44.9fps
2x5970 CFX+GTX480 dedicated physx, NO AA, Physx Medium = 59fps
GTX480+GTX470 dedicated physx = 30.4fps - Peak system power=587w
GTX480+GTX470 dedicated physx, NO AA = 43.2fps - Peak system power=597w



After seeing the results above I can only say that Mafia II is another cryostasis. The effects is not practially useable if you want to play at a decent framerate which I consider to be atleast 40fps for this type of game. Considering the cost of hardware used in this test and barely even then being able to use the techonology it is just spitting the consumers in the face. For fun I ran some Cryostasis to see how well todays hardware does the job. Dual twincore Radeon 5970 for graphics and Nvidia supercore fermi GTX480 for PhysX, I even bumped the CPU clockspeed to 4.4GHz and with maximum settings - it was completely unplayable.

During regular story line playing in Mafia II the performance is very variable, everything from 150fps with regular dips into the 20-30 with maxed out settings and maximum hardware config. There is something wrong.

Physx is a gimmick and thats why Nvidia got so interested in it. There is alot of power in the system that is not being used and since I am not a programmer I therefore cannot say why but it is not by far utilized.

Dont get me wrong, Mafia II is a wonderful game and I enjoy every minute of it but with its popular title selling like no tomorrow, there is no performance or optimization enough for either AA in DX9 or physx to justify the hype around the technologies.