During the launch of the new GeForce RTX 30-series desktop graphics cards, NVIDIA had announced that it will be introducing Resizable BAR, a PCIe-based technology that would allow users with a compatible motherboard to enable all of the GPU memory to be accessed by the CPU at once. Similar to AMD's Smart Access Memory, this meant faster transfer of data, including textures, shaders, and geometry, thereby providing gains of about 10-20% while gaming.

The tech was initially enabled in February 2021 when NVIDIA started shipping the GeForce RTX 3060, its most affordable option in the series. Now the company has officially enabled support for all of the RTX 30-series that includes the RTX 3090, RTX 3080, RTX 3070, and the RTX 3060 Ti. Apart from a supported motherboard, NVIDIA has also shared a list of CPUs that will support Resizable BAR, so unless you have the right combination of GPU, CPU, and motherboard, you cannot take advantage of this technology.

Additionally, only a handful of games can make use of Resizable BAR, these include:

  • Assassin's Creed Valhalla
  • Battlefield V
  • Borderlands 3
  • Control
  • Cyberpunk 2077
  • Death Stranding
  • DIRT 5
  • F1 2020
  • Forza Horizon 4
  • Gears 5
  • Godfall
  • Hitman 2
  • Hitman 3
  • Horizon Zero Dawn
  • Metro Exodus
  • Red Dead Redemption 2
  • Watch Dogs Legion

How to enable Resizable BAR on your PC?

  1. As mentioned, you first need to check whether you have a compatible CPU and motherboard chipset combination. Here are all the supported ones shared by NVIDIA:
    1. Motherboards:
      1. AMD 400 Series
      2. AMD 500 Series
      3. Intel Z490
      4. Intel H470
      5. Intel B460
      6. Intel H410
      7. All motherboards that support 11th-gen Intel processors
    2. CPUs:
      1. AMD Ryzen 3 5xxx
      2. AMD Ryzen 5 5xxx
      3. AMD Ryzen 7 5xxx
      4. AMD Ryzen 9 5xxx
      5. Intel Core i9-10xxx
      6. Intel Core i7-10xxx
      7. Intel Core i5-10xxx
      8. Intel Core i3-10xxx
      9. Intel Core i9-11xxx
      10. Intel Core i7-11xxx
      11. Intel Core i5-11xxx
  2. Next, make sure that you have updated to the latest motherboard BIOS, if required, by installing an update from the manufacturer. Then head to the BIOS interface and enable Resizable BAR support.
  3. Update to the latest GeForce Game Ready Driver (version 465.89 WHQL or above).
  4. If you own a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, 3070, 3080, or 3090, then you may require an updated VBIOS. Owners of the Founders Edition graphics card can update using NVIDIA’s tool directly from their website.
  5. If you own a custom partner card, firmware updates for each graphics card can be downloaded by heading to the particular manufacturer’s website.
    1. ASUS: Select GeForce RTX 30 Series --> Model --> Support --> Driver & Utility
    2. COLORFUL
    3. EVGA
    4. Gainward: Select GPU --> Tool
    5. Galax
    6. GIGABYTE
    7. INNO3D
    8. MSI: Select GPU --> Support --> Utility --> choose MSI Dragon Center or MSI Live Update
    9. Palit: Select GPU --> Tool
    10. PNY
    11. Zotac

To verify if Resizable BAR is enabled, open the NVIDIA Control Panel. On the bottom left of the NVIDIA Control Panel, click “System Information”, and in the new window look for “Resizable BAR” on the right. If it says “Yes”, you’re good to go.

NVIDIA GeForce Control Panel Resizable BAR