Asus activates the Smart Access Memory for 1st Gen Ryzen when AMD says it is not possible. Smart Access Memory (SAM) technology is making a lot of headlines, although not in the way AMD would like.
Asus activates the Smart Access Memory for 1st Gen Ryzen
Initially, this technology was released exclusively for users with an AMD Ryzen 5000 processor, a 500 Series motherboard, and a Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics card. Due to criticism, AMD recouped and also supported the 400 Series motherboards (early 2021 will come). But unlike Intel processors, which even Skylake could support this technology, AMD indicated that due to “hardware limitations”, only their Ryzen 5000 processors could employ this technology even though it is a PCI-Express interface standard but now, Asus has pulled the rug out from under them showing how even a 1st Generation AMD Ryzen can access the technology.
Specifically, an Asus B450-PLUS motherboard, with BIOS 2409 launched in early December, has enabled the GHS on an AMD Ryzen 7 1700 launched in March 2017. As if that wasn’t enough, it was executed with an AMD Radeon RX 580, but the performance improvement is not even 1% due to its obsolete architecture. What really matters here is that a processor like the Ryzen 7 1700 can access the technology even though AMD has not offered official support for this to happen, being recommended a Radeon RX 6000 Series to experience a substantial performance improvement, or an Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series (when Nvidia offers support).
