MAX plugin Hardware Acceleration BUg

Gaming and Visualization Technologies APIs Physics Modeling (closed)
1

Hi, please help.
Hardware acceleration(GPU) on MAssFX toolbar dont work !
spec
Win 10 x64
3dsmax 2016 sp4
GPU - GTX 960 4gb

I open Nvidia sample scene press simulate, and its simulate on CPU NOT GPU ! (Hardware acceleration i turned ON)

I update Latest GPU drivers, update PhysX Toolbar (3.4) and try again - nothing ! Again simulate on CPU !

I go in office and try on different machines with diferent GPU and max 2014 2016 2017 - NO GPU acceleration all my pc simulate on CPU only !

please help(

Look at my screenshot

but - iray or lucid physics use my GPU by 100%

p.s. found some people replace PhysX3Cooking_x64.dll and its work fine … but all link are dead (

2

Try switching your PhysX Engine to 3.x, seeing as you have the PhysX 3.4 DCC plugin installed. You don’t need to restart to enable this.

In my PhysX simulation with rigid bodies and using 3.x, GPU usage hovers around 5-8% during the sim, and effectively tripling the speed. The simulation time is reduced considerably, to about 33%. I can’t find a way to time the simulation accurately (outside of manually with an app), but sim times were:

All sims are 452 frames, Visualization turned off. Enabling visualization will max your GPU.

PhysX 2.x (2.8.5), with Multithreaded and Hardware Acceleration: 4m 38s
PhysX 2.x (2.8.5), with multithread, no hardware accel: 4m 26s,
PhysX 2.x (2.8.5), no multithread, no hardware accel: 4m 26s
All test showed GPU in 3dsmax.exe running 5-8% and CPU pinned at ~12.5% (one of 8 cores).
Some rigid bodies never moved in the whole sim.

PhysX 3.x (3.3.4), with multithreaded and Hardware Acceleration 1m 36s,
PhysX 3.x (3.3.4), with multithreaded and no Hardware Acceleration 1m 36s,
PhysX 3.x (3.3.4), no multithread, no hardware accel: 1m 37s,
All test showed GPU in 3dsmax.exe running 5-8% and CPU pinned at ~12.5% (one of 8 cores)
All rigid bodies simulated properly.

The variance in these shows me that these checkboxes mean more or less nothing, and probably caused by human error and scene setup time. However PhysX 3.x is definitely the way to go, for both speed and scene completeness.

The GPU utilization may vary greatly depending if you’re using soft bodies/cloth systems etc.

3

Big thx for answear,

Tested at home.
My Spec -
i7-6700k 4.1 Ghz
16Gb 3000MHZ
MSI GTx 970 + with latest driver
Win 10 Pro x64
3dsmax 2016 x64 SP4

open sample scene -
“C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX For Autodesk 3ds Max\Samples\PhysX\Dominoes Stairs.max”

version DCC 3.3.4
2.x
1m06s - no M no H
1m06s - H
1m06s - H+M

When i select 3x 3dsmax frezze i wait 5min - nothing.
reinstall DCC open scene, the default 3x i press simulate - again 1m06s i go to setup and i see the seting auto change to 2x !!!

I delete 3.3.4 and install 3.3.3. - all the same same time same Frezze
I try open cloth sample scene -
“C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX For Autodesk 3ds Max\Samples\APEX Clothing\Tutorial 1 - Waving Flag/FlagWaving_M_SS_4Final.max”
Max dont open this file - full frezze i wait 10min and close max (

I try in work PC with other hardware and all the same !

plz tell me you config, and plz test sample scene.
maybee its win 10 ? i remember 2-3 years ago gpu acceleration works fine but i have win 7.
But now i tested on work on max 2014 - all the same no GPU acceleration.

4

Have a look in the MAXScript Listener to see the PhysX errors! I found a lot of things going on in there earlier, had to reinstall DCC 3.3.4 etc. Maybe it will tell you why it is reverting to PhysX 2.x.

My setup:
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
AMD FX-8350 4.2GHz
32GB RAM DDR3-1600
3DSMAX 2014 x64 SP6
GTX 970
NVIDIA driver 376.19
PhysX Settings: “Auto (recommended)” (from NVIDIA Control Center)
About PhysX Plugin:
PhysX Plug-in Version 3.4.11121.04252.
PhysX SDK Version 3.3.4.
APEX SDK Version 1.3.4.
Change List 21393430.
Build Time 11/21/2016 4:25:32 AM.

Sample scene results:
“C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX For Autodesk 3ds Max\Samples\PhysX\Dominoes Stairs.max”

OPening file, I see this in the listener:
Warning: Could not create APEX SDK. APEX features will not be available
SDK Invalid Parameter: setParameter: parameter value out of range. at line 365, c:\p4\p4sw\sw\physx\PhysXSDK\2.8.5\trunk\SDKs\Core\Software\src\PhysicsSDK.cpp
Warning: Could not create APEX SDK. APEX features will not be available
Switch PhysX SDK to 2.8.5

So I switch to 3.x and see:
Switch PhysX SDK to 3.3.4

Ran simulation with no problems, runs in real time so I don’t bother timing it.

Switch to 2.x:
Warning: Could not create APEX SDK. APEX features will not be available
SDK Invalid Parameter: setParameter: parameter value out of range. at line 365, c:\p4\p4sw\sw\physx\PhysXSDK\2.8.5\trunk\SDKs\Core\Software\src\PhysicsSDK.cpp
Warning: Could not create APEX SDK. APEX features will not be available
Switch PhysX SDK to 2.8.5

Ran simulation with no problems, again in real time, so 200 frames is way too short to test.

Also tried the FlagWaving_M_SS_4Final.max, no problems either.

How are you timing these simulations? I’d like to compare times but have no standard metric to benchmark it with.

5

3.3.1 with out Frezee
I make some test on work machine and will write tomorrow.

6

official answear

3.3.1 work fine and select 3.x give 30% boost for calculation thx.

p.s. I found strange things
i have 6 machines with same cpu, max2016 i open “Dominoes Stairs.max”
and press simulate (when the last domino touching the floor I stop the stopwatch)

all 6 PC SHOW different speed fastest 26sec - slowest 2min20se, and different quality (

7

About some questions in the thread.

  1. It switches back to 2.x after opening a sample.
    The samples are created when PhysX was at 2.x. To respect the sample’s adjustments, it switches to 2.x when you open it. The reason is that 2.x and 3.x does not get the same result. If Plugin switches to 3.x for a 2.x sample, the simulation result could change.

  2. In PhysX panel, in Engine area. It has the Hardware Acceleration checkbox. If you cannot use GPU PhysX, the check will be grey. If you can use it, it means GPU is available.

  3. It paused/freezen when simulating stair sample. It happens sometimes because of bad installation/uninstallation of old PhysX. It is better to uninstall and reinstall again to fix it.