MSI Releases Resizable BAR Support BIOS Updates

btarunr · Nov 19, 2020

MSI, a world-leading motherboard manufacturer, announces support for AMD's new SMART ACCESS MEMORY feature. SMART ACCESS MEMORY is an innovative feature. It allows the system to access the full capacity of the VRAM on the graphics card. Compare to the current solution which has 256 MB access limitation, this feature will provide the users better gaming experience.

For MSI motherboard users, enabling SMART ACCESS MEMORY is quite simple. It only takes a few clicks after updating the BIOS. Go to "Settings > Advanced > PCI Subsystem Settings", enable "Re-size BAR" and "Above 4G memory/Crypto Currency mining", press "F10", to save the settings and reboot. The requirement of this feature is pairing the AMD Radeon RX 6000 series graphics card with AMD Ryzen 5000 series desktop processor. And don't forget to update the graphics card driver to the latest version as well. After these steps, this feature is online and ready to boost the gaming performance.

All the AMD 500 series motherboard from MSI is now ready for this new feature. Users can go to the corresponding support page of the product to download the latest BIOS for this breakthrough technology and enjoy that sweet performance boost.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

kayjay010101 · Nov 19, 2020

"SMART ACCESS MEMORY is an innovative feature"

Ah, yes, very innovative! It's only been a part of the windows display drivers for the very short time of 3 years.. and much longer on Linux.

R-T-B · Nov 19, 2020

kayjay010101 said:
"SMART ACCESS MEMORY is an innovative feature"

Ah, yes, very innovative! It's only been a part of the windows display drivers for the very short time of 3 years.. and much longer on Linux.

not part of the drivers, and certainly not in linux, but it is part of the PCI-SIG spec.

kayjay010101 · Nov 19, 2020

R-T-B said:
not part of the drivers, and certainly not in linux, but it is part of the PCI-SIG spec.

Is it not? It's part of WDDM 2.0, which is part of the driver architechture on Windows 10 (which DirectX12 requires, so it's part of any driver that includes DirectX12 support). And I thought I read somewhere the Linux kernel has resizable BAR support, but I don't have any sources to back up that claim. I'll admit I don't have much knowledge on the subtle differences here so I'm probably wrong in saying it's part of Windows 10 and has been for a while, but it's certainly not innovative in any way. It's just now we actually get to see someone use the feature.

ZoneDymo · Nov 19, 2020

kayjay010101 said:
"SMART ACCESS MEMORY is an innovative feature"

Ah, yes, very innovative! It's only been a part of the windows display drivers for the very short time of 3 years.. and much longer on Linux.

well it was innovative when it was innovated right? when does something suddenly stop being an unnovative feature just because the innovation happened a while ago?

kayjay010101 · Nov 19, 2020

ZoneDymo said:
well it was innovative when it was innovated right? when does something suddenly stop being an unnovative feature just because the innovation happened a while ago?

My point being it was innovated long ago, which makes it no longer innovative. The definition of innovative is "featuring new methods; advanced and original.". SAM isn't innovative in that sense, since it's just a marketing term for something that's been part of an OS the majority use for 3 years, and part of the PCI spec for over a decade.

R-T-B · Nov 19, 2020

kayjay010101 said:
Is it not? It's part of WDDM 2.0

News to me. Most drivers just set it to 256mb and leave it.

kayjay010101 · Nov 19, 2020

R-T-B said:
News to me. Most drivers just set it to 256mb and leave it.

"It is typical today for a discrete graphics processing unit (GPU) to have only a small portion of its frame buffer exposed over the PCI bus. For compatibility with 32bit OSes, discrete GPUs typically claim a 256MB I/O region for their frame buffers and this is how typical firmware configures them.

For Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) v2, Windows will renegotiate the size of a GPU BAR post firmware initialization on GPUs supporting resizable BAR..."
source: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/display/resizable-bar-support

You're right in that most (all) drivers set it to 256mb and leave it, I'm just stating the option to do otherwise has been there for years. AMD is just finally using the option, with NVIDIA to follow suit shortly.

NoJuan999 · Dec 7, 2020

Newest Asus ROG Strix X470-F BIOS has this Option visible in BIOS.

Version 5809
2020/12/04 14.52 MBytes
ROG STRIX X470-F GAMING BIOS 5809
"1.New CPU support
2.Offer a Re-size BAR Support option to enhance GPU performance.
3. Remove AMD 7th Gen A-series/ Athlon X4 Processors support"
ROG STRIX X470-F GAMING | ROG Strix | Gaming Motherboards｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Singapore (asus.com)

I flashed this BIOS but I have not tested that option yet.
I have a 3700x and an RTX 2060 Super and I don't know what effect it would have.

Globespy · Mar 25, 2021

NoJuan999 said:
Newest Asus ROG Strix X470-F BIOS has this Option visible in BIOS.

Version 5809
2020/12/04 14.52 MBytes
ROG STRIX X470-F GAMING BIOS 5809
"1.New CPU support
2.Offer a Re-size BAR Support option to enhance GPU performance.
3. Remove AMD 7th Gen A-series/ Athlon X4 Processors support"
ROG STRIX X470-F GAMING | ROG Strix | Gaming Motherboards｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Singapore (asus.com)

I flashed this BIOS but I have not tested that option yet.
I have a 3700x and an RTX 2060 Super and I don't know what effect it would have.
View attachment 178536

Why would you flash a BIOS without reading if it was compatible with your GPU?
It's not going to be a problem, and your system will work just fine. It just won't allow your GPU to use the feature.
RTX 2000 series not supported, here's an article from 'Tech Power Up' (this site):
NVIDIA Details its Resizable-BAR Feature Rollout, Eligible Products | TechPowerUp

NoJuan999 · Mar 27, 2021

Globespy said:
Why would you flash a BIOS without reading if it was compatible with your GPU?
It's not going to be a problem, and your system will work just fine. It just won't allow your GPU to use the feature.
RTX 2000 series not supported, here's an article from 'Tech Power Up' (this site):
NVIDIA Details its Resizable-BAR Feature Rollout, Eligible Products | TechPowerUp

I knew my GPU didn't work with Resizable Bar.
I updated to get rid of a random restart bug that was caused by the previous BIOS version.
I just posted so people would be aware that that option had been added to this MB's BIOS.

System Name	RBMK-1000
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling	DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory	2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage	Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s)	BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case	Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s)	ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse	ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard	Gamdias Hermes E2
Software	Windows 11 Pro

System Name	Main PC
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard	ASUS X570 Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi)
Cooling	EKWB X570 VIII Hero Monoblock, 2x XD5, Heatkiller IV SB block for chipset,Alphacool 3090 Strix block
Memory	4x16GB 3200-14-14-14-34 G.Skill Trident RGB (OC: 3600-14-14-14-28)
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX 3090 Strix OC
Storage	500GB+500GB SSD RAID0, Fusion IoDrive2 1.2TB, Huawei HSSD 2TB, 11TB on server used for steam
Display(s)	Dell LG CX48 (custom res: 3840x1620@120Hz) + Acer XB271HU 2560x1440@144Hz
Case	Corsair 1000D
Audio Device(s)	Sennheiser HD599, Blue Yeti
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000i
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB MK2
Software	Windows 10 Pro 20H2

System Name	Pioneer
Processor	Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard	GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory	64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s)	XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage	2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s)	55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case	Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s)	TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse	Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard	WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software	Gentoo Linux x64

System Name	Main PC
Processor	AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard	ASUS X570 Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi)
Cooling	EKWB X570 VIII Hero Monoblock, 2x XD5, Heatkiller IV SB block for chipset,Alphacool 3090 Strix block
Memory	4x16GB 3200-14-14-14-34 G.Skill Trident RGB (OC: 3600-14-14-14-28)
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX 3090 Strix OC
Storage	500GB+500GB SSD RAID0, Fusion IoDrive2 1.2TB, Huawei HSSD 2TB, 11TB on server used for steam
Display(s)	Dell LG CX48 (custom res: 3840x1620@120Hz) + Acer XB271HU 2560x1440@144Hz
Case	Corsair 1000D
Audio Device(s)	Sennheiser HD599, Blue Yeti
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000i
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe RGB MK2
Software	Windows 10 Pro 20H2

System Name	Cyberline
Processor	Intel Core i7 2600k -> 12600k
Motherboard	Asus P8P67 LE Rev 3.0 -> Gigabyte Z690 Auros Elite DDR4
Cooling	Tuniq Tower 120 -> Custom Watercoolingloop
Memory	Corsair (4x2) 8gb 1600mhz -> Crucial (8x2) 16gb 3600mhz
Video Card(s)	AMD RX480 -> ... nope still the same :'(
Storage	Samsung 750 Evo 250gb SSD + WD 1tb x 2 + WD 2tb -> 2tb MVMe SSD
Display(s)	Philips 32inch LPF5605H (television) -> Dell S3220DGF
Case	antec 600 -> Thermaltake Tenor HTCP case
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite 2i4 (USB)
Power Supply	Seasonic 620watt 80+ Platinum
Mouse	Elecom EX-G
Keyboard	Rapoo V700
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64bit

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 3700x
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix X470-F Gaming
Cooling	Scythe Ninja 5
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB (2 x 8GB) (F4-3600C16D-16GVKC) @ 3733 MHz 16-19-19-19-36-56
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2060 Super Armor OC 8GB
Storage	1x Samsung 970 EVO 500GB / 3x Crucial MX500 / 4 HDDs
Display(s)	Dell 23" LCD S2316M
Case	Rosewill Rise Glow
Power Supply	CORSAIR RM650
Mouse	Cooler Master MS120
Keyboard	Cooler Master MS120
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

Processor	i7 8086K
Motherboard	AsRock Z370 Extreme4
Cooling	Corsair 150i Pro
Memory	32GB Corsair Veangence LPX @3200Mhz
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte GTX 1080ti Extreme Edition
Storage	Sandisk X400 512GB SSD
Power Supply	EVGA G3 850W
Software	Win 10 64-bit v1809

MSI Releases Resizable BAR Support BIOS Updates

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