why or what would install ageia physics

adbp1 · 8 Mar 2009 at 19:17

just noticed this was installed on my pc, im using ATI graphics card, with few games installed.
farcry
crysis/crysis 2
world at war
mirrors edge

isnt this suppose to be an nvidia program? or would have one of the games installed it?

do i need it or can i uninstall it?

thanks ali

MarcLister · 8 Mar 2009 at 19:22

Crysis might install it. Nvidia own Ageia now. I wouldn't have thought you'd especially need it. Just something bundle installed.

zytok · 8 Mar 2009 at 21:58

Mirror's Edge fo' sho'

quite a few games install it by default now regardless of whether you have a physx card.

Greenlizard0 · 8 Mar 2009 at 22:00

Yea, I got it installed with Mirror's Edge.

MarcLister · 8 Mar 2009 at 22:35

zytok said:
quite a few games install it by default now regardless of whether you have a physx card.

When I was posting my reply I wasn't sure on this but I was thinking that Ageia actually needed a PhysX card to work. Am I right?

Obviously it wouldn't be too hard for a company like Nvidia to get their installers to detect PhysX cards and install Ageia if there is one found.

uv · 8 Mar 2009 at 22:42

the ageia software is installed by Mirror's Edge regardless of whether you have an nVidia card/Ageia card or not.

It isn't part of the Crysis installation, as Crysis doesn't use the Physx API.

dbmzk1 · 8 Mar 2009 at 22:45

It installs the drivers and PhysX API as they are required for a PhysX enabled game to run, similar to how you have to install/update DirectX, OpenGL or OpenAL.

As said it would have been installed with Mirror's Edge. Uninstall it and the game probably wont work (though some do as they include the PhysX runtime in their game files).

adbp1 · 9 Mar 2009 at 14:20

ahh that explains all. will prob leave it then as its not really doing any harm !!

Tripnologist · 9 Mar 2009 at 15:42

Makes sense for them to install it automatically though because what if someone switches from an ATI to an nVidia card? They probably wouldn't want to reinstall the game just to get some extra 'features'.

uv · 9 Mar 2009 at 15:55

Tripnologist said:
Makes sense for them to install it automatically though because what if someone switches from an ATI to an nVidia card? They probably wouldn't want to reinstall the game just to get some extra 'features'.

That's not the reasoning for installation.
Even if physx capable hardware isn't present, the game will still require the physx software to run correctly. The game will still reference the library, it just won't run any h/w requiring processes.