What you need to know
- NVIDIA released a new GeForce Game Ready driver update today.
- The driver update brings resizable BAR support to all RTX 30 series desktop GPUs.
- Resizable BAR can boost hardware performance in supported games.
NVIDIA released its GeForce Game Ready 465.89 WHQL driver today. It features multiple gaming-friendly feature updates including NVIDIA Reflex support for Rainbow Six Siege to help combat in-game latency as well as NVIDIA GPU optimization tweaks for the upcoming Square Enix title Outriders. Arguably the most noteworthy inclusion of the 465.89 driver update is its resizable BAR support for all NVIDIA RTX 30 series desktop GPUs, otherwise known as some of the best graphics card options available.
What resizable Base Address Register (BAR) does is allow CPUs and GPUs to more efficiently transfer game assets. It does this by removing the 256MB data transfer cap, enabling a CPU to take advantage of all of a GPU's VRAM simultaneously rather than just bite-size chunks of it. This can result in boosted hardware performance during gameplay.
According to NVIDIA, these performance boosts can be as large as 12 percent in supported games. NVIDIA clarifies that resizable BAR support requires more than just an RTX 30 series GPU, such as an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060. You'll need a compatible CPU and motherboard as well, which NVIDIA lists in detail on its website.
At the moment, NVIDIA hasn't commented on whether full or partial resizable BAR support will come to RTX 20 series GPUs.
