PhysX: hybrid setup ATI + Nvidia for Windows XP / 7 (no patch)

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Warning: This is a "retro" guide intended for Windows XP / Windows 7 and very old Nvidia cards such has GeForce 9800 GT.

Setup for this guide:

Step 0 / Requirements

A working setup with ATI drivers present and working.

Step 1: Install the NVIDIA card and drivers

Add the Nvidia card, then install the 185.68 drivers. Validate warnings regarding driver signature.

Reboot.

Step 2: Enable a secondary display

For Windows XP, right click on the desktop and select Properties, tab Parameters.

Find the inactive screen that is related to the GTS 250 then click on the checkbox Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor. Click on Apply.

On Windows Seven, right click on the desktop and select Screen resolution.

Click on “Detect” to make extra display appear and select the one that is associated to the GTS 250. On Multiple displays select Try to connect anyway on VGA. Click on Apply.

Now you can Extend display to that extra screen.

Step 3: Enable PhysX

Right click on the desktop, you should now have an entry to access Nvidia configuration.

You can now enable PhysX hardware acceleration.

Step 4: Test on Fluidmark

PhysX should now work. But if you want to test on FluidMark 1.2.2, you need to delete these two files:

You can now launch Fluidmark and validate that PhysX works. The window should mention “PhysX GPU” while running.

Tested softwares:

Tested games:

Recommended NVIDIA cards:

Untested NVIDIA cards that should also work:

Known issues:

Links: