Physics SDK developer Havok and 3D graphics designer Nvidia have teamed up to develop a software package allowing physics calculations to be run on Nvidia graphics chips.

The Havok FX package will be provided to developers later this summer, Nvidia said on Monday, and will be designed for the GeForce 6 and GeForce 7 family of graphics cards.

According to Nvidia, the SDK will support the inteaction of "thousands" of objects calculating friction, collisions, gravity, mass, and velocity; using the SDK, debris, fluids, and smoke will be able to be modeled. The cards must support Shader Model 3.0, Nviida said, although it wasn't clear whether shader calculations would be needed to actually compute the physics model.

"Moving physics processing to the GPU is a natural progression enabled by the high programmability in today's GPUs," said David Kirk, chief scientist at Nvidia, in a statement. "By combining expertise with Havok, we have produced a fantastic solution for game developers that will lead to more compelling game-play and more realistic gaming experiences."

Havok FX will be demonstrated at the Game Developers' Conference this week in San Jose.