Resizeable BAR is a technology that allows the processor to address the entire amount of memory of the graphics card per call, instead of the 256 MB available with the feature turned off. Both Nvidia and AMD use it, although the latter chose to call it Smart Access Memory (SAM) instead. Benefits include higher gaming performance, but results often vary by title and hardware.
Now the technology is being tested in the newly released Dead Space Remake, along with a Geforce RTX 4080. Since Nvidia only automatically enables it for specific whitelisted titles, Reddit user “sxkyle” is defying it and enabling it on his own, with impressive performance increase as a result. In one of the tests, the average FPS value rises from 78 to 108 FPS, an increase of a whopping 38 percent. At the same time, the minimum level increases by 34 percent, from 62 to 83 FPS.
However, not all test results are quite as brilliant. A second round of testing shows a similar average improvement of 34 percent, but the minimum value instead goes in the wrong direction, decreasing from 25 to 17 FPS. Exactly why is not clear, but with little difference between the two, it could be variance between test rounds.
Mixed test results are a contributing factor to why Nvidia, unlike AMD, has not chosen to enable it for all games. While AMD blacklists games where the technology does not produce the desired result, Nvidia works in the other direction, a tactic whose disadvantage instead risks being a lack of performance in games where it actually works. From the Reddit thread, it appears that Nvidia is currently testing the Resizeable Bar in Dead Space Remake, but whether the green team will enable the technology in the game with a new driver remains to be seen.
