Mafia II Benchmark video featuring NVIDIA PhysX comparison by nvidia

Official PhysX comparison video for Mafia II. Initial video sequence is nothing special (just benchmark run), but composing level makes me envious

Cryostasis BFG Ageia PPU PhysX Test by TRStrider74

This video is comparing Cryostasis PhysX performance with/without additional Ageia PhysX card and main ATI GPU. After watching this I’ve moved Cryostasis to GPU/PPU games section, as it seems to run well enough.

physx cloth ragdoll test 001 by gtxx

Demonstration of PhysX integration with 3Impact engine, showcasing cloth and complex jointed obejcts – ragdolls .

Pallets with instancing, physX and shadow mapping by onfire4ever

Just a short shadow mapping test, with some PhysX simulation.

In Mafia II, as you may notice from our comparison video, clothing simulation on main character (Vito Scaletta) is present regardless to APEX PhysX settings, main difference is in Cloth detalization and used technologies – standart PhysX Cloth (APEX PhysX Off) and more advanced APEX Clothing module (APEX PhysX Medium/High).

Clothing detalization is mostly determined by number of vertices, forming a physical cloth mesh.

So, just for curiosity, we decided to count them in Mafia II (with help of AgPerfMon profiler), using different APEX PhysX settings and various Vito’s suits.

Leather Jacket.

Casual Suit with Hat.

Casual Suit with Raincoat.

According to data we’ve collected, Clothing based on APEX Framework is 6x times (in average) more detailed than low-resolution PhysX Cloth you can see with APEX “Off” settings.  As result, APEX based Cloth behaves more realistically.

But what about performance – APEX Clothing is 6x times more detailed, maybe it is running 6x times slower ?

Performance.

For testing purposes we’ve used simple character motion sequence, from begining of Chapter 9. All character clothing is disabled except for Vito.

Thus, while APEX Clothing assets are containing 5-7x times more vertices than PhysX Cloth suits (APEX PhysX OFF settings), performance degrades only about 15%. And don’t forget, that in both cased Cloth simulation is running purely on CPU.

Everyone who played Mafia II will eventually notice, that enabling special APEX PhysX content will not only bring you flowing clothing and particle debris, but also significantly reduce framerate – even if you have a proper NVIDIA GPU and latest PhysX System Software.

Update: APEX Clothing in numbers

Update #2: Tests with dedicated PhysX GPU added – PART III.

While preparing our PhysX tweaking guide we have discovered that physically simulated clothing on characters is affecting performance the most. Why that ? Cloth is one of the basic effects, used intensively in many GPU PhysX games – just remember Mirror’s Edge and it’s countless tearable banners and flags. Two answers come to mind:

• Clothing simulation in Mafia II is so detailed and so high-resolution, that only top dedicated GPUs can run it at proper fps.

Unlikely. Even in most intensive scenes total cloth vertices count is not exceeding 8000, while framerate is crawling around 20 fps – on GTX 470.

• Clothing simulation is running on CPU, while it is supposed to be hardware accelerated on GPU.

Plausible. But, as our further tests have revealed, proved to be true for single GPU systems only.

Combine it with facts that a) Cloth in PhysX SDK is not using all available CPU resources by default b) Clothing is heavy computational task in any case – and you’ll see the probable reason of poor performance. Let’s check this theory.

PART I – MAFIA II BENCHMARK.

For the first part of tests we’ll use benchmark, built into Mafia II, running with two sets of APEX effects – Clothing only (Particles are disabled using methods from tweaking guide) and Particles only (Clothing is omitted) – and PhysX acceleration enabled/disabled from NVIDIA Control Panel.

Settings: 1680x1024, AO/AA On, AFx16, APEX High. System: C2Q 9400, GTX 470, 4GB RAM, Win 7 x64, 198.32 GPU drivers, PSS 9.10.0513

Interesting results. While Particles are benefiting from GPU acceleration without doubt, PhysX switch is not affecting Clothing simulation at all.

It seems our assumption was correct – APEX Clothing is calculated on CPU in any case – but let’s confirm it with some deeper research.

PART II – AGPERFMON.

Best way to find the truth is to look into entrails of PhysX SDK/APEX implementation in Mafia II.

Coarse tools like PhysX Visual Indicator won’t help, connecting PVD to the game is not easy task, so we’ll use profiler called AgPerMon, that will allow us to collect and review specific PhysX SDK simulation events.

Firstly, to find out which events are referring to GPU Cloth simulation, lets profile a simple application – SampleCloth.exe from PhysX SDK 2.8.3.

SampleCloth.exe

We are using scene 2: only one Cloth object in scene with applied wind acceleration.

Comparing two sets of data, extracted from SampleCloth running on GPU (left picture) and CPU (right picture) we can identify which events are responcible for GPU simulation – their names are starting with “NgPrDeformable“, “NgPrCloth” and “_cuda_kernel_Deformable“.

Now, let’s check actual game.

Mafia II – Chapter 15

For testing we used one scene from Chapter 15 – APEX is set to High, no additional characters on screen, APEX Clothing is represented by Vito’s casual suit with hat (616 dynamic cloth vertices). Also, we’ve spawned some APEX Particles events by shooting at walls.

————

First run – with GPU PhysX enabled in drivers.

As expected, we weren’t able to find any GPU Cloth specific events (left picture), familiar to us from SampleCloth. Instead, CPU Cloth simulation events were collected, thus - Clothing simulation is running on CPU.

What about Particles (right picture) ? They are running on GPU, as you may notice from lots of “NgPrFluid” events gathered.

————

Second run – with GPU PhysX disabled in drivers.

Result is predictable – both APEX Clothing (left picture) and APEX Particles (right picture) simulations are running on CPU – as they should.

PART III – DEDICATED GPU SAVES THE DAY !

Now, as new GTS 450 has arrived to suppement our current GTX 470, it is time to find out if dedicated PhysX GPU can help with Clothing simulation – as NVIDIA has stated:

Clothing is running on CPU unless you have a GPU, fully dedicated to PhysX.

First set – Mafia II built-in benchmark, testing methods and in-games settings are similar to PART I, but a different software setup (260.63 GPU drivers and 9.10.0514 PSS) was used this time.

Dedicated PhysX GPU gives a nice boost to Particles simulation, and more important – improves framerate for pure Clothing sim. So it’s actually working as promised ? Let’s check a few things firstly:

We’ve measured GPU load for a dedicated GTS 450 with MSI Afterburner 2.0.0. while performing a benchmark run with only Clothing enabled.

As you may see, Clothing simulation is putting some stress on dedicated PhysX GPU. Final test- profiling with AgPerfMon (click to view full pic)

Lots of “NgPrDeformable” and “NgPrCloth” events are indicating, that in case of dedicated PhysX card, APEX Clothing simulation is fully calculated on GPU, and thus performance gain is achieved.

We also can say, that in actuall game difference is even bigger. Some situations (with APEX High and without any tweaks), previously putting our single GTX 470 on knees, are running smooth and fluent with a dedicated GTS 450.

PART IV – CONCLUSION.

1) If you have a single NVIDIA GPU.

According to our results – in current version of Mafia II additional APEX Clothing content is running on CPU regardless to PhysX settings (while it is expected to be hardware accelerated by NVIDIA GPUs) and, thus, producing a huge performance drop.

In order to improve performance you can either disable (fully or partially) clothing simulation as described in our guide, or overclock your CPU.

APEX Particles effects are working normally, and can be calculated on GPU without any major performance loss.

2) If you have NVIDIA GPU, fully dedicated to PhysX calculations.

In this case both APEX Particles and APEX Clothing effects are running on dedicated GPU, leaving the game fully playble with APEX High setting and un-tweaked content.

Accent is put on fully dedicated – according to our data, PhysX switch in drivers must not be used in “Auto” mode, and we expect that SLI configurations may have problems with Clothing calculations too.

We are completing our overview of APEX PhysX content in Mafia II by this video,  showcasing most noticable effects based on APEX Particles module.

Previous comparison video, dedicated to APEX Clothing module, is available here.

If YouTube video is not working for you, you can watch alternative variant at Vimeo

APEX Particles effects are including:

• Various dynamic debris (concrete fragments, glass pieces, wood splinters, etc) from bullet impacts.
• Additional physically simulated chunks from explosions, car crashes, wheel slip, trash cans, mailboxes and other destructible objects.
• Vehicle tire burnout effect -  realistic fluid smoke, which reacts to environment and character/NPC movement.
• Up to 3000 (APEX Medium settings) or 10 000 (APEX High settings) unique particles on screen.

Sum: You can find dynamic particles almost in every single GPU/PPU PhysX game, but in Mafia II particle effects are close to their perfection – realistic collision simulation, various particle types (for both graphical mesh and physical behaviour), LOD based resource management (particles are not dissapearing over time, like in earlier games) – and, most important, pretty decent performance.

If your system can handle such effects, we recommended to leave them enabled, or you’ll loose significant piece of game’s immersion.

Finally, keep an eye on Mafia II GPU PhysX info mini-site for additional information and comparison screenshots.

Mafia II, likely most important GPU PhysX title for this year, was released just a few days ago, and as usuall we have prepared some PhysX comparison materials.

This particular video is focused on how APEX Clothing module is used the enhance game experience.

Update: Part II, dedicated to APEX Particles effects, is released.

Update #2: APEX Clothing in numbers

In general, APEX Clothing content includes:

• Much more detailed (you can even notice how wrinkles are formed), fully simulated clothing for main character – Vito Scaletta.
  Standart PhysX Cloth is still being used on consoles and PC (APEX Off settings), but in comparison to APEX Clothing based simulation (APEX High and Medium settings), it is looking chunky and crusty.
• Dynamic clothing for additional characters (Joe, Derek, Steve, etc) and some NPCs, instead of simple skinned mesh.
• Several supplementary effects, like cloth reaction to the wind and shockwaves from explosions.

Sum: High-resolution clothing simulation is nice looking, immersive and promising technology. However, in Mafia II resources are used not optimally – hardly noticable, but very demanding clothing simulation on NPCs can bring your system to knees.

Fortunately, PhysX tweaks discovered for Mafia II demo are working nicely in final version too. Following this guide, you can easily tweak amount of APEX Effects (for example, disable clothing simulation for NPC, but leave it for Vito) and find a compromis between visual fidelity and performance.

Also, keep an eye on Mafia II GPU PhysX info mini-site for additional information and comparison screenshots.

Mafia II is about to hit the shelves in US, and since it is, probably, most heavyweight title in 2010 GPU PhysX games line, we can expect a lot of detailed reviews about APEX PhysX special effects, added to the game.

We’ve already posted an benchmarks overview for Mafia II Demo, so let’s focus on final version now:

[23.08.10] Mafia II: Perfection for NVIDIA’s Graphics Plus Technologies ? by HardwareCanucks

APEX effects decription and comparison are pretty basic, and only two GPUs [GTX460/GT240 dedicated] were used for testing, but enough attention was paid to CPU scailing [i5/i7] and CPU usage graphs.

According to benchmarks results, Mafia II is pretty playble on CPU even with APEX set to High.

Conclusion:

In the past NVIDIA and their developers took an incredible amount of flak over the use of GPU-processed physics due to the utter lack of optimizations the PhysX API had for the CPU. With Mafia II’s use of the open-minded APEX routines, a corner seems to have been turned because we finally see that it is possible to run these calculations quite smoothly with only a few hiccups on a multi core CPU.

The GPU is still more efficient at physics processing but in some cases you will likely want all of the rendering horsepower it brings to the table. This feature is still nothing more than eye candy but if you can run it, we suggest you do so because it does increase the overall believability of certain scenes.

[23.08.10] Mafia II Full Version Review with 3D Vision and Physx Benchmarks by HiTechLegion

APEX Technology description and comparison screenshots are pretty similar to their Mafia II demo review, but GPU setup was changed this time.

Conclusion:

Unlike most PC PhysX titles, Mafia II relies completely on PhysX to render an immersive gangster’s paradise.  Turning PhysX off results in a hum-drum gameplay that resembles 3rd person shooters from the early part of the decade but with Ambient occlusion and higher res textures.

I would rather trade graphical quality than play the game in its highest settings with PhysX disabled.  It simply is just not the same game without the dust, debris, smoke and of course, the stylistic trench coats!

[23.08.10] Mafia-II Video Game Performance Review by BenchmarkReviews

Includes not only performance testing, but initial gameplay overview and impressions, however, APEX description does not provide any significant details.

Conclusion:

To experience Mafia II with all it’s high-quality graphical glory, gamers are going to require at least a GeForce GTX 470 video card to produce optimal frame rates. Of course, the game’s settings can all be dialed down, but once you’ve experienced APEX PhysX there’s really no turning back. Although I’ve generally been rather quiet in regard to PhysX quality enhancements for video games, this silence ends with Mafia II.

APEX PhysX literally helped turn Mafia II from video game to video reality – it’s that different. Add NVIDIA’s GeForce 3D-Vision onto this, whether it be single display or 3D-Vision Surround, and you’ll experience realism not found in any other title before this.

[26.08.10] Mafia II: How To set up AMD & Nvidia cards for APEX PhysX by PCGamesHardware

Not a review actually, but a german guide on how to configure Hybrid PhysX system for Mafia II.

Includes some benchmarks – HD 5870 + dedicated NV 9800 GTX.

[27.08.10] Mafia II: Hardware Performance Guide by Gamespot

Wide overview on how different graphics setting (ambient occlusion, shadow quality, resolution) are affecting performance, CPU and memory tests, and, of course, benchmarks with APEX PhysX effects enabled.

Conclusion:

Apex PhysX is really where the action is at for this game. The requirements are steep, but you’ll be treated to debris and fluid clothing like never before.

[31.08.10] Mafia II GPU & CPU Performance In-depth by TECHSPOT

Detailed APEX PhysX performance overview, with lots of GPUs tested (NV, NV + NV dedicated, ATI + NV – 23 different graphics cards in total).

More interesting are CPU scaling graphs – with APEX set to High it scales better, than with APEX Off. But we know what is the cause now, right ?

Conclusion:

Playing through a few levels of Mafia II while enabling and disabling PhysX we found that the effects visually improve some select scenes, making them more realistic, but for the most part they do little to enhance the game itself.

Although I am a sucker for eye candy, it is hard not to feel like you are not getting enough of it based on the perfrormance hit.

[02.09.10] Mafia II: Is Applied PhysX Worth It ? by ExtremeTech

Pretty mediocre article – two comparison screenshots, APEX Framework (which is simply called – PhysX) effects description just from Reviewer’s Guide, few GPUs tested, no CPU scaling graphs, no detalization on CPU/GPU Cloth problem or Clothing tweaking tests – not something you can expect from such late material.

Conclusion:

The Mafia II benchmark with PhysX enabled does look a lot better than the plain version—as does the full game.

But for us, the increased visual reality is unquestionably offset by the decreased smoothness of game play, which is where we like to get our immersion.

But as much as we like the myriad little PhysX touches that make Mafia II look far more exciting than it actually is to play, we’d prefer bullet-proof frame rates.

[03.09.10] Mafia 2 PhysX Performance by bit-tech

Decent read this time. Includes interesting manipulations with Hybrid PhysX/dedicated PhysX GPUs setups and CPU overclocking .

Conclusion:

From what we’ve seen, [GPU PhysX] is certainly worth using an ageing 8-series of GTX 2xx series card for PhysX if you already have one, but so far as buying a card expressly for PhysX or running an ATI/Nvidia Hybrid setup goes it might be that Mafia 2 is one game and you can live with turning PhysX off.

[17.09.10] NVIDIA APEX PhysX: CPU vs GPU Efficiency by BenchmarkReviews

Second article from BenchmarkReviews, but too superficial this time – no CPU scaling graphs, no APEX tweaking tests, even no dedicated PhysX GPU was used – and we all know, that APEX Clothing will run on CPU in this case.

Conclusion:

For best results in Mafia II, players are suggested to use NVIDIA GeForce products to properly process PhysX features and produce high-enough frame rate performance to enjoy 3D Vision. You can still play Mafia II and future APEX PhysX-enabled PC video games with your Radeon video card, but as our results show, there will be hell to pay.

[22.10.10] Mafia II: PhysX Tested, HotHardware Reviewed by HotHardware.com

For an article, released a month after original Mafia II game, PhysX overview is just perfunctory.. however, it has some interesting notes.

Mafia II uses PhysX to good effect; Empire Bay looks and sounds wonderful. Besides these points, there’s not much to recommend the game.

– We’ll update this post as more articles emerge –

Mafia II demo version was released only few days ago, but several websites have already prepared some benchmarking and testing articles, focused on APEX PhysX part of the game.

Update: Mafia II Final version – PhysX Reviews roundup.

[11.08.2010] Mafia II – Public Demo GPU test by gamegpu.ru

Russian article. Includes game overview and detailed testing part, with various settings and used ATI/NV GPUs.

[11.08.2010] Mafia II Performance Benchmarks: PhysX and 3D Vision Tested by HiTechLegion

Decent review, with some PhysX benchmarks. Author’s conclusion – “I would rather trade graphical quality than play the game in its highest settings with PhysX disabled.”

[11.08.2010] Minireview – PhysX in Mafia II Demo by CTTL.cz

A small performance review by czech website, using Intel Dual Core E5200@4GHz CPU and GTX 275 GPU. However, since CPU and GPU PhysX framerates are the same, it seems they have cought a bug with PhysX System Software not installed properly.

[13.08.2010] Mafia 2 – Performancebericht by ComputerBase

Detailed performance review (with different Nvidia GPUs and APEX settings), PhysX effects decription, comparison videos.

[13.08.10] Mafia II Performance Preview by OverclockersClub

Some benchmarks with APEX High and various Nvidia GPUs.

– We’ll update this post as more articles emerge –

Since Mafia II Demo is a hot topic these days, lets browse through most decent videos, showcasing APEX PhysX effects in this title.

Mafia 2 Demo – PhysX Tire Smoke by MrTeeh

Immersive tires burnout effect – with dynamic smoke simulation. Best look with APEX set to High, as particle count is much bigger. One of the best SPH smoke simulation so far – comparing to other PhysX games.

Mafia II smoke turbulence by gbushimprov

Another demonstration of dynamic smoke effect.

Mafia 2 – Apex Physics Comparison by Robersdee24

Decent video, showcasing various gameplay situations (shooting, explosions, clothing) with APEX content enabled and disabled.

Mafia 2 Physx on-off comparison (car explosion) by NortonCommander

Car explosion comparison. Interesting detail – it seems that with APEX enabled, explosions are damaging nearby cars more intensive, that with APEX disabled.

Maffia 2 PHYSX Comparison by makraipeter

Short video, comparing impact debris particle effects.

Mafia 2: PhysX-on vs PhysX-off comparison by jhwejr34

Built-in benchmark comparison, with different APEX PhysX settings.

Mafia II Gameplay With the new (PhysX 9.10.0513) by Tonho0112

Just a gameplay sequence, running smooth with APEX effects enabled.

Mafia 2 Physx Demo Gameplay by CptBingo

Vito goes on rampage. Lots of shooting , destruction and particles.

Mafia 2 Demo – Physx Test Video by dani83bp

Intence shooting with lots, lots of debris and particles.

Mafia 2 Nvidia PhysX: Breakable Objects by SaiteK1911

Various destructible objects in Mafia II. BTW, many of them are based on APEX Destruction module.

Yes, all that dynamic clothing and particle effects are cool, but actuall performance of Mafia II with APEX PhysX effects set on “Medium” or “High” isn’t very fascinating – even GTX 480 users may met some annoying fps drops and lags. Fortunately, there is a way to tweak APEX content a little.

Note: Interested in how exactly APEX Framework is being used ? Visit Mafia II GPU PhysX profile page for additional information.

Important: Mafia II may have some issue with PhysX System Software installation. If you experiencing major slowdowns, reinstall it using 9.10.0512_SystemSoftware package from \Steam\steamapps\common\mafia ii – public demo\3rd folder.

You also may wanna try new 9.10.0513 PhysX drivers

PART I – APEX CLOTHING

Most performance is devoured by APEX Clothing module (why ? because it is running on CPU, not on GPU), that is responcible for realistic clothing simulation on main and several NPC characters.

Update: tweaking APEX Particles effects

Update #2: following tweaks will work with final version of Mafia II

1) Disabling all clothing

If you can live without flowing Vito trenchcoat and woman’s skirts, you can simply follow the path

\Steam\steamapps\common\mafia ii( – public demo)\edit\APEX

and delete (don’t forget to backup) directory named as

Cloth

This will remove  certain APEX assets, and all character clothing will revert to static skinned mesh (like with APEX set to “Off“), but all particle effects will stay !

Result ? No more realistic cloth, but huge fps increase. 70 average fps vs 25 fps without this trick (APEX set to High, single GTX470 is used, GPU PhysX enabled).

2) Disabling all clothing except for Vito

Revert Cloth folder to it’s place.

Delete all files (backup), except for those starting with “VIT*“, and files named “m2skeleton” and “ClothRemapTable“.

Note: if you experiences stability problems after selectively removing cloth files, try to delete certain lines from ClothRemapTable.xml, corresponding to files that were ommited.

Voila ! Fully dynamic clothing on Vito, without NPCs draining your fps with their unnoticable cloth skirts and jackets.

This is a place near Vito’s house – running around 20-25 fps previously, thanks for those NPC womans skirts. After tweak – 60+ fps.

3) Disabling clothing for NPC pedestrians only

If you want to disable clothing simulation for NPC pedestrians, but leave it for Vito and his buddies (Joe, Henry, etc):

Delete (backup, of course) files starting with “CCI*“, “CIT*“, “CME*“, “CPR*” and “CSI*“

from folder

\Steam\steamapps\common\mafia ii( – public demo)\edit\APEX\Cloth

All other files must remain (if you applied any clothing tweaks previously, Cloth folder must be reverted to its original state – before using this method).

———

And finally. With our tweaks it is possible to play Mafia II with APEX PhysX enabled – purely on CPU.

All fancy particles and impact debris (our CPU was enough for APEX Medium settings, GPU PhysX disabled in drivers), some clothing simulation – running around 30+ fps.

Looks like a nice deal for non-hybrid ATI users.

———

Some screenshots with clothing tweak №2 – APEX PhysX is set to High, graphics and physics are calculated on single GTX470. Particles are in place, Vito’s clothing is fully simulated.

PART II – APEX PARTICLES

In order to increase game framerate even further, APEX Particles effects (debris from bullet impacts, smoke, etc) can be removed too.

Simply delete (backup first) Effects folder located at

\Steam\steamapps\common\mafia ii( – public demo)\edit\APEX

If you want to find a performance compromise, you can disable, for example – particles and clothing on NPC, but leave clothing on Vito – just like on the screenshot above.

Of course, system is more flexible – you can delete only certain .aea files (stands for APEX Emitter Asset I believe), located at

Steam\steamapps\common\mafia ii( – public demo)\edit\APEX\Effects\Assets\Emitters

- responcible only for certain particle effects.

For example, deleting burnout.aea will vanish pretty demanding “tire burnout” dynamic smoke (all other particle effects will remain).

or, if you’ll remove vybuch_auto.aea – you will not see chunks from car explosions anymore.

Large field for experiments.

Any use of article content without permission is prohibited.

If you haven’t played Mafia II demo, and still wondering what are differences between APEX PhysX effects setting, we have prepared a small video, showcasing several APEX settings using built-in benchmark.

Update: Tweaking PhysX in Mafia II – huge fps increase without noticable difference.

Update #2: comparison PhysX videos for final version, covering APEX Clothing and APEX Particles modules usage in details.

As you may notice, when APEX is set to “High” – a lot of dynamic particles (impact debris, chunks from explosions, smoke) are added, and simulated clothing for characters as well. Detailed effects description is available here.

Unfortunately, this one is not even close our usual detailed comparison videos, so – our apologies.

Full scale APEX Effects comparison is planned only after Mafia II release.