When AMD introduced the Smart Access Memory during the Zen 3 launch that helps to boost the performance of certain games, NVIDIA responded with the “Resizable Base Address Register”, or “Resizable BAR”. The technology wasn’t new and it was already a part of the PCIe spec.
NVIDIA has now officially confirmed that its Resizable BAR supports the newly launched RTX 3060 graphics cards and RTX 30 powered gaming laptops. The company also confirmed that the Resizable BAR also supports AMD 400 series motherboards with Zen 3 compatibility, AMD 500 series chipsets, and all of the AMD Ryzen Zen 3 processors announced. NVIDIA also officially confirmed that the R-BAR brings support for Intel 10th generation (Z490, H470, B460, H410) and 11th generation chipsets. NVIDIA also specified that ASUS, ASRock, COLORFUL, EVGA, GIGABYTE, and MSI motherboards officially supports Resizable BAR.
PRESS RELEASE
Our initial support for “Resizable BAR” is available now for GeForce RTX 3060 desktop graphics cards and GeForce RTX 30 Series laptops. Utilizing an advanced feature of PCI Express, Resizable BAR can increase performance in certain games.
Support for other desktop GPUs will follow in late March.
What Is Resizable BAR?
Resizable BAR is an optional PCI Express interface technology. As you move through a world in a game, GPU memory (VRAM) constantly transfers textures, shaders and geometry via many small CPU to GPU transfers.
With the ever-growing size of modern game assets, results in a lot of transfers. Using Resizable BAR, assets can instead be requested as-needed and sent in full, so the CPU can efficiently access the entire frame buffer. And if multiple requests are made, transfers can occur concurrently, rather than queuing.
What CPUs and CPU Platforms Support Resizable BAR?
GeForce RTX 30 Series laptops with Resizable BAR-capable Intel and AMD CPUs are available now. Check with each laptop manufacturer to discover if Resizable BAR is supported on a particular model.
For desktops, you will need a compatible CPU, compatible motherboard, motherboard SBIOS update, GPU VBIOS update (the GeForce RTX 3060 already ships with the necessary BIOS) and new GeForce Game Ready driver to enable Resizable BAR.
Desktop CPU and Chipset Support
As of February 25th, 2021, the following CPU chipsets and CPUs support Resizable BAR on GeForce RTX 30 Series desktop GPUs:
| AMD Chipsets |
| AMD 400 Series (on motherboards with AMD Zen 3 Ryzen 5xxx CPU support) |
| AMD 500 Series |
| AMD CPUs | ||||
| AMD Zen 3 CPUs | Ryzen 3 5xxx | Ryzen 5 5xxx | Ryzen 7 5xxx | Ryzen 9 5xxx |
| Intel Chipsets | ||||
| Intel 10th Gen | Z490 | H470 | B460 | H410 |
| Intel 11th Gen S | All 11th Gen chipsets available as of February 25th, 2021 | |||
| Intel CPUs | |
| Intel 10th Gen | Intel 11th Gen S-Series |
| i9-10xxx CPUs | i9-11xxx CPUs |
| i7-10xxx CPUs | i7-11xxx CPUs |
| i5-10xxx CPUs | i5-11xxx CPUs |
| i3-10xxx CPUs | |
“Intel has been working with NVIDIA to enable Resizable BAR, an advanced PCI-Express technology, across the PC ecosystem,” said Fredrik Hamberger, GM of Premium & Enthusiast Laptop Segments at Intel. “This feature can give gamers an extra boost in gameplay FPS on Intel’s new 11th generation H/S and select 10th generation systems when paired with supported graphics cards, including NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs.”
Motherboard Support
NVIDIA is working with motherboard manufacturers around the world to bring Resizable BAR support to compatible products. As of February 25th, 2021, the following manufacturers are offering SBIOS updates for select motherboards to enable Resizable BAR with GeForce RTX 30 Series desktop graphics cards:
| Motherboard Manufacturers Supporting Resizable BAR | |||||
| ASUS | ASRock | COLORFUL | EVGA | GIGABYTE | MSI |
Please head to the manufacturers’ website to discover whether your motherboard is compatible, and to download and install updates if available. Additionally, please refer to the manufacturer’s documentation for enabling Resizable BAR support in the BIOS.
Enabling Resizable BAR On Your GeForce RTX 30 Series Graphics Card
Having updated your motherboard, you’ll need to update your GPU, and download our newest Game Ready Driver.
VBIOS Update
GeForce RTX 3060 desktop graphics cards launched February 25th, 2021, with a pre-installed Resizable BAR-ready VBIOS. If you purchase one, all you need is a compatible motherboard and motherboard SBIOS, described above, and our newest Game Ready Driver, detailed below.
Late March, NVIDIA will release downloadable VBIOS updates for all Founders Edition GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs to enable Resizable BAR, and likewise, partners will release VBIOS updates for their custom models, too.
Check back then for further information and instructions.
Game Ready Driver Update
In practice, the performance benefits of Resizable BAR can vary substantially from game to game. In our testing, we’ve found some titles benefit from a few percent, up to 10%. However, there are also titles that see a decrease in performance, so NVIDIA will be pre-testing titles and using game profiles to enable Resizable BAR only in games where it has a positive performance impact.
That way you won’t have to worry about bugs or performance decreases, and won’t have to rely on the community to benchmark each title and discover whether Resizable BAR is beneficial in the games you’re playing.
With the release of our newest GeForce Game Ready Driver on February 25th, 2021, we’re enabling our initial Resizable BAR support on GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards and in the following titles:
| GeForce RTX 30 Series Resizable BAR Supported Games |
| As of February 25th, 2021 |
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla |
| Battlefield V |
| Borderlands 3 |
| Forza Horizon 4 |
| Gears 5 |
| Metro Exodus |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 |
| Watch Dogs: Legion |
Support for additional titles will launch alongside our VBIOS and Game Ready Driver update for the rest of the GeForce RTX 30 Series family late March.
Verify Resizable BAR is Working
After you’ve updated all your components, and installed our Game Ready Driver, you can verify Resizable BAR is working on your system by opening the NVIDIA Control Panel.
On the bottom left of the NVIDIA Control Panel, simply click “System Information”, and in the new window look for “Resizable BAR” on the right. If it says “Yes”, you’re set.
