We recently covered the technical background of Nvidia’s variable BAR (Base Address Register) and AMD’s Smart Access Memory, so now it’s time to dive in and explain how you use these technologies.
While they accomplish the same sort of goal of giving the CPU far greater access to game assets for faster allocation, the process for enabling these technologies is slightly different. Let’s go through the AMD method and the Nvidia method, along with what you should know.
Get the right components for AMD Smart Access Memory
To take advantage of Smart Access Memory (SAM), you need the following:
In other words, you need end-to-end AMD hardware, and very new hardware at that. Reports indicate that Intel Arc graphics cards support variable BAR size on Ryzen PCs, and Intel recently confirmed this, although it hasn’t had much real-world testing.
Enable AMD Smart Access Memory
Step 1: Update your motherboard’s BIOS to the latest version — download it from your manufacturer’s website.
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Step 2: Install the latest graphics driver from AMD’s driver repository.
Step 3: Enter UEFI/BIOS by pressing the key specific to your board during boot.
Step 4: Enable two settings for Above 4G decoding and BAR resizing support. In the BIOS of our Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus motherboard, we discovered that Asus had inserted a simple button that changed both settings together. Your motherboard may vary, so if in doubt, refer to your motherboard’s manual for the setting you need to change.
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Step 5: Save changes, exit BIOS and go to Windows 10.
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Step 6: As an aside, if you take a look back at AMD’s website, you’ll notice that it includes a BIOS screenshot related to variable tape size support, so while we might prefer the name smart access memory, it may be that is a variable band more permanent terminology.
Enable resizable bar
Nvidia also provides full details to guide you through the process of enabling Resizable BAR, but it works with more permutations than AMD, so you need to proceed with some caution. It is interesting to note that Nvidia supports older AMD 400 motherboards, but not AMD 3000 CPUs.
To use a variable ribbon with an Nvidia GPU, you need to:
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AMD 400 or 500 series motherboard with Ryzen 5000 processor or Intel 10th, 11th or 12th generation processor and matching motherboard
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I am Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 graphics card or Intel Arc graphics card
Step 1: Update the motherboard BIOS to the latest version — download it from the manufacturer’s website.
Step 2: Install the latest graphics driver from Nvidia’s website.
Step 3: Enter UEFI/BIOS by pressing the key specific to your board during boot.
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Step 4: If you are using an older RTX 3000 GPU, you may need to update your GPU BIOS to gain access to the ReBAR feature. However, the latest releases of the GPU should have no problems. If you find that you cannot enable ReBAR after following this guide, consult your GPU manufacturer’s website for instructions on how to update to the latest BIOS.
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Step 5: Check your Nvidia or Intel drivers to confirm that the resizing bar is enabled.
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Should I enable variable BAR size?
If you have an Intel GPU, the answer is definitely yes. Our review showed that this is an absolute must-use feature – otherwise, you’re hampering GPU performance.
For AMD and Nvidia graphics cards, this is not so important because the difference in performance is often somewhere between 1% and 10%. It’s a free rendition, though, so while you don’t have to enable it, you probably should, because otherwise you’re just leaving extra frames on the table.
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Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn