Intel Arc Alchemist GPUs Will Be Getting Resizable BAR Support on Linux
In a report by Phoronix, the latest Linux graphics kernel has mentioned ’ Resizable BAR’ or ReBAR support within the patches. The latest patches include a small BAR recovery support for the Intel’s Kernel graphics driver on the Linuxx platform. Following is what the patch states: Considering the patch was sent out for Linux 5.17, it is likely that we can see the Resizable BAR supprort being added as early as Linux 5.18. So if users wan’t to utilize ReBAR with Intel’s GPUs within the Linux ecosystem, they would have to upgrad to the latest Linux and MESA build. Intel already offers Resizable BAR support on its desktop platforms starting the 300-series lineup and considering that other GPU makers are offering the tech on both desktops and laptops, it is likely that Intel would also follow the same route with its Arc Alchemist GPU lineup. via Phoronix ReBAR essentially defines how much discrete GPU memory space can be mapped and today’s PCs are typically limited to 256 MB of mapped memory. With BAR, the system can access all of the GPU memory, removing any bottlenecks to allow for faster performance. So far, BAR has shown mixed performance numbers with gains in some titles and no performance benefits in others. There are also a few cases where the system produces lower performance with BAR enabled but that’s just a small portion so having it enabled isn’t a bad idea and it’s great to see Intel also working towards making such features open-source.
