Intel Reportedly Abandoned Higher-end Arc Xe2 "Battlemage" dGPU Project Last Year

[GodisanAtheist]

Other than it not working when I've tried it? No. But there is this;

What Is Resizable BAR and How Do I Enable It?

Explains what is Resizable BAR, how to enable it, and describes how it can impact performance.

www.intel.com

From that link, Secure Boot isn't required. I can confirm the same on my main system with a 6800xt, B550 board, and Win10.

To enable Resizable BAR:

- Enter the system’s BIOS/UEFI firmware configuration menu by pressing the DEL key during system start up. This key may vary between each system manufacturer, please check with your system manufacturer for specific instructions as necessary.
- Compatibility Support Module (CSM) or Legacy Mode must be disabled and UEFI boot mode must be Enabled.
- Ensure the following settings are set to Enabled (or Auto if the Enabled option is not present):
Above 4G Decoding
Re-Size BAR Support
- Use the Intel® Driver and Support Assistant (Intel DSA) to confirm that Resizable BAR is enabled on your system.

You would be wrong, or so says microsoft;
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...size-bar/9eb1f448-830f-4645-81e9-ba8ac2b635d8
I tested this. Enabling Secureboot allows Rebar to work. Disabling it disables both.
So yeah, deal breaker for me.

Thus my hope that future ARC cards perform well without Rebar.

-Miceosoft demands secure boot for Win11. Its not inherently a Rebar requirement.

 

[lexluthermiester]

From that link, Secure Boot isn't required. I can confirm the same on my main system with a 6800xt, B550 board, and Win10.

To enable Resizable BAR:

- Enter the system’s BIOS/UEFI firmware configuration menu by pressing the DEL key during system start up. This key may vary between each system manufacturer, please check with your system manufacturer for specific instructions as necessary.
- Compatibility Support Module (CSM) or Legacy Mode must be disabled and UEFI boot mode must be Enabled.
- Ensure the following settings are set to Enabled (or Auto if the Enabled option is not present):
Above 4G Decoding
Re-Size BAR Support
- Use the Intel® Driver and Support Assistant (Intel DSA) to confirm that Resizable BAR is enabled on your system.



-Miceosoft demands secure boot for Win11. Its not inherently a Rebar requirement.

Having done this myself, with both ARC and Geforce cards, I can verify that, at least in Windows, Secureboot is required for Rebar to work. Rebar does not work without Secureboot enabled, in Windows. Feel free, nay, feel invited to try this for yourself.

 

[Draconis]

Having done this myself, with both ARC and Geforce card, I can verify that, at least in Windows, Secureboot is required for Rebar to work. Rebar does not work without Secureboot enabled, in Windows. Feel free, nay, feel invited to try this for yourself.

It might be system dependent. I also have a B550 board and a RX 6750 on Win 10. I've been running with Rebar on and Secureboot off for ages and like @GodisanAtheist it works fine. I do however sometimes forget to turn Secureboot off when I update my bios so I double checked last night and it definitely works for me.

 

[bug]

Other than it not working when I've tried it? No. But there is this;

What Is Resizable BAR and How Do I Enable It?

Explains what is Resizable BAR, how to enable it, and describes how it can impact performance.

www.intel.com

You would be wrong, or so says microsoft;
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...size-bar/9eb1f448-830f-4645-81e9-ba8ac2b635d8
I tested this. Enabling Secureboot allows Rebar to work. Disabling it disables both.
So yeah, deal breaker for me.

Thus my hope that future ARC cards perform well without Rebar.

You do realize you've just posted a link from Intel that does not mention SecureBoot, a GPU-Z screenshot that does not mention SecureBoot and a random post from an unofficial forum that says "turn on SecureBoot" (as others have pointed out, that's more of a Windows requirement).

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Having done this myself, with both ARC and Geforce card, I can verify that, at least in Windows, Secureboot is required for Rebar to work. Rebar does not work without Secureboot enabled, in Windows. Feel free, nay, feel invited to try this for yourself.

-Mayhap it's just an Intel/Nvidia driver level thing?

AMD has always been known to play it a little faster and a little looser, maybe there is some kind of vulnerability there to be able to access the entire GPU VRAM pool without secureboot but AMD doesn't require it for SteamOS/Linux compatibility reasons?

Who knows, other than AMD users being able to activate SAM without Secure Boot.

 

[stickleback123]

Anyone who has been paying attention to Intel's MO over the last decade or more knew they weren't in it for the long haul. Intel just isn't built like that, they're a purely MBA driven quarter to quarter company where anything that doesn't add value to the stock is quickly spun off and axed, which has resulted in Intel being good at one thing and one thing only: CPUs. And now they're not even good at CPUs anymore.

I think we're going to get Celestial, and then MAYYYYYBEEEE Druid out of Intel, and in very Battlemage-esq "see we launched a few, go away and leave us alone", before their dGPU stack gets the kibosh.

Much more than a decade. All Intel have ever really done successfuly is rip the arse out of people for x86 when they have no competition, everything else they either fail at (Itanium), give up on (X Point/Optane), or both.

They even managed to screw up their ability to rob people in x86 now through greedy short termist management. If I'd have told you 10 years ago that AMD would be worth more than Intel in 2025 you'd have laughed in my face.

 

[lexluthermiester]

It might be system dependent.

Maybe. Or maybe there's a workaround that is being done without advertising it.

You do realize you've just posted a link from Intel that does not mention SecureBoot

Miss the part about CSM/Legacy settings? For many motherboards, disabling CSM/Legacy and enabling UEFI also automatically enables Secureboot. It's not stated but rather directly implied.

-Mayhap it's just an Intel/Nvidia driver level thing?

It might be system dependent. I also have a B550 board and a RX 6750 on Win 10. I've been running with Rebar on and Secureboot off for ages and like @GodisanAtheist it works fine. I do however sometimes forget to turn Secureboot off when I update my bios so I double checked last night and it definitely works for me.

I'm starting to get that sneaking suspicion that this might be one of those "it depends" things.

 

[bug]

Miss the part about CSM/Legacy settings? For many motherboards, disabling CSM/Legacy and enabling UEFI also automatically enables Secureboot. It's not stated but rather directly implied.

I have not missed that. Nor have I seen a motherboard turn on SecureBoot just because I enabled UEFI mode (though most motherboards do come with both UEFI and SecureBoot turned on). Still, how does any of that make SecureBoot a requirement for ReBAR?

 

[Draconis]

I'm starting to get that sneaking suspicion that this might be one of those "it depends" things.

With a sample size of 3, stats tell it has to be so and absolute truth . Joking aside I think this thread may be useful down the line when users have odd issues as to when secureboot and rebar do/do not not play nicely together.

@GodisanAtheist Good catch. I was mostly verifying that the combo works for ME, never considered the WHY. Only excuse is overwhelmed at work at the moment and don't frequent tech sites in my personal time.

Watching tech is part of my job.

 

[lexluthermiester]

With a sample size of 3, stats tell it has to be so and absolute truth . Joking aside I think this thread may be useful down the line when users have odd issues as to when secureboot and rebar do/do not not play nicely together.

@GodisanAtheist Good catch. I was mostly verifying that the combo works for ME, never considered the WHY. Only excuse is overwhelmed at work at the moment and don't frequent tech sites in my personal time.

Watching tech is part of my job.

I tested this at the shop today after asking my techs about it and the differences of opinion we have here were echoed there. Then we booted up a bunch of different systems and put it to the test. AMD's SAM seems to work fine regardless of the Secureboot setting or who makes the board. Intel systems however are the kicker. Some require SecureBoot for Rebar, some do not. And there is no consistency to it. Some Dell systems require it and others do not. Same with HP. We had the same experience with the various board makers. AMD's fine, Intel boards are all over the place. Very irritating.

 

[bug]

I tested this at the shop today after asking my techs about it and the differences of opinion we have here were echoed there. Then we booted up a bunch of different systems and put it to the test. AMD's SAM seems to work fine regardless of the Secureboot setting or who makes the board. Intel systems however are the kicker. Some require SecureBoot for Rebar, some do not. And there is no consistency to it. Some Dell systems require it and others do not. Same with HP. We had the same experience with the various board makers. AMD's fine, Intel boards are all over the place. Very irritating.

That settles it. ReBAR does not require SecureBoot. But UEFI implementations can be messed up like nobody's business.
Thanks for taking the time to put this to test.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I tested this at the shop today after asking my techs about it and the differences of opinion we have here were echoed there. Then we booted up a bunch of different systems and put it to the test. AMD's SAM seems to work fine regardless of the Secureboot setting or who makes the board. Intel systems however are the kicker. Some require SecureBoot for Rebar, some do not. And there is no consistency to it. Some Dell systems require it and others do not. Same with HP. We had the same experience with the various board makers. AMD's fine, Intel boards are all over the place. Very irritating.

-Appreciate you taking the time to actually test and coming back with an honest assessment.

Speaks to your character in a good way.

 

[bug]

-Appreciate you taking the time to actually test and coming back with an honest assessment.

Speaks to your character in a good way.

Meet @lexluthermiester

 

[bitsandboots]

I tested this at the shop today after asking my techs about it and the differences of opinion we have here were echoed there. Then we booted up a bunch of different systems and put it to the test. AMD's SAM seems to work fine regardless of the Secureboot setting or who makes the board. Intel systems however are the kicker. Some require SecureBoot for Rebar, some do not. And there is no consistency to it. Some Dell systems require it and others do not. Same with HP. We had the same experience with the various board makers. AMD's fine, Intel boards are all over the place. Very irritating.

Interesting investigation. Thats kinda wild and newsworthy in its own right because I don't see much on the internet about it so who could have expected buying intel + intel is going to give you some Windows restrictions that amd + intel doesn't have.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Interesting investigation. Thats kinda wild and newsworthy in its own right because I don't see much on the internet about it so who could have expected buying intel + intel is going to give you some Windows restrictions that amd + intel doesn't have.

Right? Very odd indeed. One of my Asus boards does this but the AsRock does not. Very irritating.