AMD Ryzen 3000 Desktop CPUs Getting Smart Access Memory; AAA Games Receive Massive Boost

KEY POINTS

AMD unveiled the Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card
The Smart Access memory technology is built on top of the optional Resizable BAR feature
Users need one of the AMD500 series motherboards for maximum advantage

Apart from the Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card's official launch, AMD also announced that it introduces Smart Access Memory technology to the Ryzen 3000 Desktop CPU series, allowing PC processors to get a free performance boost.

According to AMD, Ryzen 3000 CPU owners can get up to 16% more performance from their desktop when paired with the new Radeon RX 6000 Big Navi graphics cards. To fully take advantage of this impressive performance boost, users need one of the AMD500 series motherboards, either the X570 or the B550 chipset. Aside from the Ryzen 5 3400 G and Ryzen 3 3200 G APUs, all Ryzen chips are getting the Smart Access Memory technology support.

The Smart Access Memory is built on top of the PCIe specification’s optional Resizable BAR feature. It also enables the CPU to access the graphics memory buffer. The Smart Access Memory can access all GPU memory, detaching any bottlenecks to deliver faster performance.

Where Gaming Begins: Ep. 3 | AMD Radeon™ RX 6700 XT — Corporate Vice President & General Manager, Graphics Business Unit, Scott Herkelman as he introduces the newest graphics card powered by the RDNA 2 architecture, the AMD Radeon™ RX 6700 XT. AMD YouTube Channel

This technology is supported by PCIe Gen 3, too. This means consumers do not need to invest in a PCIe Gen 4 platform to avail the technology. According to PC World, the tweak that the Smart Access Memory provides ranges from negligible to notable based on the testing it conducted with the Radeon RX 6900 XT.

Frame rates also increased by up to 8%, depending on the game and resolution, the site revealed. According to AMD, in best-case scenarios, Smart Access Memory can boost performance by 16%. The Smart Access memory is similar to the Resizable BAR Tech that Nvidia has introduced lately.

Unfortunately, the Resizable BAR is only available on the latest Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 and some GeForce RTX 30 series laptops in a limited number of select video games. Also, Nvidia's Resizable BAR only defines how much discrete GPU memory space it can map. This limits to 256 MB of mapped memory, which today's PCs are usually limited to.

It would be exciting to experience the benefit of the new Smart Access Memory technology. Unfortunately for those who have not yet secured an AMD RX 6000 graphics card series unit, stocks these days are still hard to come by.