FEMFX VS PhysX 5.0

AMD recently unveiled the FEMFX deformable physics library addition to their GPUOpen library set. Nvidia also announced that they would be working on the Finite Element Method (FEM) as well. With Nvidia’s PhysX 5.0 SDK slated for a 2020 release, a burning question has emerged. Would we be better off with AMD’s FEMFX or Nvidia’s PhysX 5.0?

The Finite Element Method

FEM has evolved to become an industry standard for the manufacturing and automotive industries. The FEM method can also be utilized for more basic physical interactions in graphic designing and gaming.

Nvidia’s Secret Sauce

The discrete element method (DEM) and smoothed particle hydrodynamics will also be employed for fluid simulations. For the simulation of cloth, rope or fibrous materials, Nvidia will implement arbitrary meshes.

This will allow for the materials to exhibit inflatable properties, aerodynamic lift and drag interactions as well as other physical elements.

What about AMD?

AMD has licensed their FEMFX technology under the MIT/X11 license, best known as the ‘most permissive’ software of our time. Developers only have to mention the name of the library within the game credits.

On top of that the open platform allows for modification sans fee, and it is currently utilized by an Unreal Engine plugin at Github!

When can we see these bad boys in action?

We can’t say for sure when exactly will the PhysX 5.0 be released but our fingers and toes are crossed in anticipation for a 2020 release.

With AMD slightly ahead of the race for now, we expect great things to emerge from their open source platform. So who will be better at making things go kaboom?

On the subject of integration between Nvidia’s SDK and AMD’s developer tools, we have yet to see what is possible. As of now, we can only presume the PhysX 5.0 will require an Nvidia GPU to run.

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