Resizable BAR or ReBAR began gaining attention in early 2021 when Nvidia and AMD decided to implement it on the RTX 3000 and RX 6000 series GPUs, respectively. Put simply, it's an advanced PCI-e technology that improves the handshake between your CPU and GPU by allowing the former to access the entirety of the framebuffer (VRAM) in one go instead of making multiple small transfers.

The size and complexity of modern game assets necessitate the use of such technologies to maximize the efficiency of your graphics card. If you weren't aware of ReBAR or didn't think its benefits were worth it, you might want to reconsider.

5 Significant FPS boost

Why let go of free performance?

Obviously, the most important factor in enabling or disabling any feature is performance. The whole point of implementing Resizable BAR is to allow your CPU to transfer assets, shaders, textures, and more in full to the GPU to minimize the overhead associated with innumerable small transfers. Rather than game assets waiting in line, they can be concurrently fed into the GPU due to the unrestricted access to the framebuffer.

The result is an instant boost to your framerates, anywhere from 5% to 15%, depending on the title. This can be a pretty big improvement when you're trying to hit the magical 60 FPS target in some of the latest games. AMD calls this feature Smart Access Memory (SAM) while Nvidia uses the traditional nomenclature. Also, you'll need an RTX 3000, RX 6000, or newer GPU, and an Intel Core 10th Gen, Ryzen 3000, or newer CPU to use Resizable BAR. Plus, if your PC firmware is still in BIOS mode, you'll need to move to UEFI to support ReBAR.

4 Reduced stuttering with better frame-time

1% lows are pretty important

Resizable BAR doesn't just boost your maximum and average FPS in games, it also gives your 1% lows an uplift, enabling a more consistent frame-time experience. If you've been noticing stuttering to an annoying degree, enabling ReBAR might just be the push your PC needs to minimize or eliminate it completely. Due to the more efficient data transfer between the CPU and GPU, micro-stutters are less likely to occur, making your games feel smoother.

Even if your rig can consistently stay above 60 FPS without the assistance of ReBAR, it still pays to enable it since fewer micro-stutters are something everyone can appreciate. For graphics cards with less than desirable VRAM, the improvements from Resizable BAR might be more impactful, since access to the entire VRAM at once is something those models need the most. GPUs with larger framebuffers will still benefit, but the mileage may vary.

3 A necessity for newer GPUs and games

It's fast becoming a no-brainer

When it comes to enabling ReBAR, you might not have a choice, depending on your hardware. GPU manufacturers are now strongly recommending turning ReBAR on to get the advertised performance. For instance, Intel advises owners of Arc graphics cards to enable Resizable BAR to get optimum gaming performance. Nvidia also recommends using ReBAR, and AMD suggests using SAM to make the most of your graphics card.

Game developers are optimizing the latest games for Resizable BAR, so ignoring it might lead to reduced performance on your PC. Many modern titles from a few years ago also support ReBAR, such as Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Battlefield V, Control, DiRT 5​​​​​​​, Forza Horizon 4​​​​​​​, Metro: Exodus, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Watch Dogs: Legion, to name a few.

2 Simpler than overclocking the GPU

Don't bother with overclocking

If you always wanted to extract every bit of juice from your GPU, then enabling Resizable BAR is a lot simpler than spending hours overclocking your GPU to get a minor performance boost. While overclocking is highly dependent on your fate in the silicon lottery, and requires hit-and-trial to dial in the right settings, ReBAR takes a few clicks in your BIOS/UEFI for a usually bigger increase in FPS.

When enabling a simple setting can help you realize a 5-15% boost, there's no reason to leave performance on the table. ReBAR is nothing but a technology that uses the inherent capabilities of your existing hardware to optimize the CPU-GPU communication, which results in utilizing your GPU to the fullest. Compared to other framerate-boosting techniques like Lossless Scaling, Resizable BAR doesn't have any drawbacks either.

1 Retain your old GPU for longer

Extend your GPU's lifespan

​​​​​​​Finally, the FPS boost due to Resizable BAR allows you to extend the life of your graphics card, which is a godsend in today's market. Overpriced GPUs with poor gen-on-gen improvements, terrible stock levels hurting availability, and the erosion of the budget GPU segment have created a perfect storm for gamers. If you can potentially use your graphics card for longer, avoiding paying through the nose for a new one, it's a huge win.

If you have an older graphics card from the RTX 30, RX 6000, or Arc Alchemist series, and are struggling to reach 60 FPS in some demanding games, give Resizable BAR a shot, and see what kind of performance boost you can get. You might be surprised at the results. The year 2025 is not ideal for PC upgrades, so every little bit that helps delay your GPU upgrade is welcome. ReBAR is perhaps the easiest of them all.

Resizable BAR helps gamers realize optimum performance

Just like DirectStorage helps improve game loading times and increases SSD utilization, Resizable BAR optimizes the PCIe link between the CPU and the GPU to reduce stutters and boost framerates. It can be enabled easily in your PC's BIOS/UEFI, and doesn't come with any downsides. The performance improvements can range from 5-15%, depending on the game's implementation of ReBAR. Most modern systems are compatible with Resizable BAR, and will help you extend the life of your graphics card.