Resizable BAR (Base Address Registers) technology is part of the PCI Express interface specifications since version 2.0 & ; it is the basis of AMD Smart Access Memory (SAM), but is no longer exclusive to owners of new Ryzen chips. Recently ASUS released firmware for motherboards with Intel Z490 chipset, which adds Resizable BAR support.
When this functionality is enabled in the BIOS of Intel Z490-based motherboards, ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards should automatically take advantage of this technology. AMD never said that SAM would be exclusive to Radeon RX 6000 and Ryzen 5000 processors. Only these products are listed as supported by AMD because AMD has conducted tests with them and is confident that they will work. Another reason is obviously marketing and a desire to increase sales of their own devices.
Japanese site ASCII decided to test the SAM in practice in the Intel platform. The site staff used a Core i9-10900K processor and a reference Radeon RX 6800 XT with and without active Resizable BAR function. As we already know, activation of SAM does not always give a noticeable performance gain even on a bunch of Ryzen 5000 and Radeon 6000 & ; everything depends on the specific game. That's why only those projects that have already proven SAM gains were included in the test: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Forza Horizon 4, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Rainbow Six Siege.
Official data on performance gain from SAM on AMD Ryzen 5000 and Radeon 6000 platforms.
So, on the Intel Z490 platform in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla at 1920 × 1080 and the highest quality, the activation of Resizable BAR gives both minimum and average frame rates increase: In Forza Horizon 4, at 2560 × 1440 and maximum quality settings, you'll feel the same gain (note that the graphics incorrectly specify resolution; 1920 × 1080): In Red Dead Redemption 2 at 1920 × 1080, the Resizable BAR increases the minimum frame rate multiple times to provide a smoother gaming experience: Finally, in Rainbow Six Siege at 1920 × 1080 at high quality settings and 100 %-scale rendering, the game shows an improvement in minimum frame rate and minimal increase in average performance: Recall: AMD introduced SAM technology during the announcement of Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards. While conventional Windows-based PCs can only access a portion of the graphics memory (VRAM) at the same time, this technology allows the processor to extend the data channel, allowing the entire video memory array to be used at once and eliminate potential bottlenecks, achieving improved performance in some games.
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