Here’s a slice of good news for gamers who need to squeeze a bit more power out of their aging hardware.
Owners of an older AMD RX 5000-series GPU will now be able to benefit from the performance boost offered by Smart Access Memory thanks to a driver update.
Smart Access Memory allows your CPU to access more GPU memory than it is normally allowed to access. This means that larger assets don’t need to be broken up and as a result processing can happen faster. Nvidia has a similar solution it calls Resizable BAR.
The driver update in question is Adrenalin 21.9.1 which is currently available as an optional update. This means that unless you have selected “Recommended + Optional” selected for your Preferred Software Version in AMD Radeon settings, you will have to manually download the update.
As for the older hardware, you will need, as mentioned, an AMD RX 5000-series GPU as well as either an 11th Generation Intel Core CPU or an AMD Ryzen 3000 or 5000 GPU paired with a 400- or 500-series motherboard.
You will also need to check that your motherboard has the Smart Access Memory feature enabled in BIOS. For us this required a simple BIOS flash and at restart the option was enabled. We should point out that even with an all AMD system, the Smart Access Memory feature was labeled Resizable BAR so look for that option in your BIOS as well.
Once you have installed the latest optional drivers and updated your BIOS you will need to enable Smart Access Memory in your AMD Radeon settings. This option can be enabled in Performance and then select Tuning.
This driver update also support Windows 11 so if like us you’ve been participating in the Windows 11 Insider Program, this update should help to alleviate some of the crashes and oddities you’ve experienced.
So what does all this hoop jumping get you at the end of the day? According to AMD, Smart Access Memory can improve performance in certain titles by up to 15 percent. While it’s not a massive boost, we should point out that a 15 percent increase in performance on older hardware shouldn’t be scoffed at.
With PC hardware prices stretching to ridiculous heights at the moment, it might be a good idea to see if you can squeeze a bit more performance out of your current set up.
To download the latest AMD Radeon drivers head here and consult your motherboard manufacturer for details on BIOS updates.
