AMD Revolutionizes Gaming with Variable Graphics Memory and AI Advancements

AMD Boosts Gaming With Variable Graphics Memory

AMD Strix Point laptops are gaining a new feature called Variable Graphics Memory, which dedicates a portion of the system RAM to gaming and graphics. Variable Graphics Memory is currently available on the company's Ryzen AI 300 series processors which power its Strix Point laptops. Owners can use AMD's Adrenalin app to reassign their RAM to VRAM with a touch of a button. The RAM is where app executables and data are kept. The main processor fetches the instructions from the RAM and executes them. Many laptops lack a separate graphics card and instead share a fixed amount of RAM with the GPU. What Variable Graphics Memory does is enable you to assign up to 75 percent of your system memory for graphics that an integrated GPU can use after a reboot. Just don't confuse Variable Graphics Memory with shared graphics memory on AMD chips. The company recommends that at least 16GB of RAM remain available to the CPU. On a 32GB laptop, a medium setting for Variable Graphics Memory will turn 8GB of RAM into video memory (VRAM), leaving you with 24GB of RAM and 8GB of dedicated VRAM. The problem with this approach is that regular RAM is slower than VRAM, which shows in some games. Testing conducted by The Verge reveal mixed results, with some titles showing smoother action. For example, the game Control went from 54 frames per second (FPS) on an Asus Zenbook S 16 laptop with 8GB of VRAM. On the other hand, other titles showed little or no gain, and some even dropped frames. Some games won't run at all, like Alan Wake II. AMD is also releasing Fluid Motion Frames 2 as a technical preview on Strix Point laptops. This feature uses AI (without requiring special hardware) to double the frame rate on all RDNA 2 GPUs, with a 28% latency reduction compared to the previous version. AMD claims using Fluid Motion Frames and lowering graphics quality may boost the frame rate on a 2880 x 1800 laptop above 60 FPS in titles like Far Cry 6 and Horizon Zero Dawn. "Users should try to adjust the game graphics settings to ensure that the FPS before applying Fluid Motion Frames 2 is not too low, or else the gameplay may become choppy," it says. Source: AMD, The Verge

AMD's new Variable Graphics Memory lets laptop users reassign their RAM to gaming

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Many laptops and gaming handhelds share a single pool of memory between the CPU and GPU -- and sometimes, you might want that RAM boosting your graphics instead. Now, AMD won't make you dive into a BIOS to reroute that power. The company's new Variable Graphics Memory lets you turn up to 75 percent of your system memory into dedicated video RAM, just by tapping a button in AMD's desktop Adrenalin app. It's only currently available for AMD AI 300 "Strix Point" laptops, and how much RAM you'll be able to divert depends on your system's total -- AMD explains that the "medium" setting will turn a 32GB laptop which came with 512MB of video memory into a 24GB one with 8GB of dedicated VRAM. You might be wondering: does that extra video memory actually make a difference? Well, it depends on the game. Some games, like Alan Wake II, require as many as 6GB of VRAM and will throw errors at launch if you're short -- Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go buyers have been tweaking their VRAM settings for some time to take games to the threshold of playability. But in early testing with the Asus Zenbook S 16, a Strix Point laptop that's already shipped with this feature, my colleague Joanna Nelius saw that turning it on isn't a silver bullet for every game. With 8GB of VRAM, the laptop played Control notably faster (65fps vs. 54fps), but some titles had smaller boosts, no boost, or even slight framerate decreases. Your mileage will vary -- but I'm eager to find out if it's a big boost in particular games! AMD's also bringing its Fluid Motion Frames 2 to Strix Point laptops in technical preview today, after previously opening it up to desktop GPU and last-gen notebook GPUs. It increases framerate by imagining new frames, now with less jitter and lag. There, AMD says you can get substantial boosts, assuming you've got at least 50 fps to work with before you apply the frame generating technique -- though AMD doesn't say whether you're getting any more frames with AFMF 2 than you did with the original version of the tech. The company does claim, though, that if your laptop can already manage 39 fps in, say, Horizon Zero Dawn, you can now play it at a (theoretically) smooth 66 fps on a 2880 x 1800 laptop screen if you add AMD's FSR upscaling tech. In other AMD laptop gaming news, the company's just announced the RX 7800M, a new up-to-180W chip that comes with 12GB of dedicated video memory. Tom's Hardware calls it "essentially a stripped-down RX 7800 XT," comparing it to the desktop GPU, but it's also filling a huge hole in AMD's lineup between the flagship RX 7900M and the RX 7600M XT, as you can see below.

AMD just transformed this portable laptop into a gaming beast | Digital Trends

AMD has a new driver for its latest Ryzen AI 300 processors, and it introduces a feature that could provide a massive performance boost in games. It's called Variable Graphics Memory, or VGM, and it allows the integrated graphics to convert up to 75% of the memory in a system to dedicated graphics memory. This, according to AMD, can not only boost performance in games, but also make some otherwise unplayable titles boot. The new Ryzen AI 300 processors are mostly found in thin and light laptops, including devices like the Zenbook S 16 that aren't targeted at gamers. In addition to VGM in the new driver, AMD also turned on its Fluid Motion Frames 2 (AFMF 2) feature for Ryzen AI 300 processors. With both features working in tandem, you can see the performance boost on the Zenbook S 16 below. Guardians of the Galaxy is the most interesting inclusion, as AMD claims the game needs VGM turned on to even run. According to AMD, this is because some games come with hard-coded requirements for video memory. By default, the integrated graphics on a Ryzen AI 300 processor only get a dedicated 512MB pool, sometimes leading to errors or outright game crashes if the title calls for more dedicated memory. VGM gets around that issue. It seems that AFMF 2 is pulling most of the weight when it comes to performance gains, however. In a less taxing scenario for integrated graphics, AMD showed its Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 hitting close to 100 frames per second (fps) or higher in the games it tested at 1080p. Recommended Videos As you can read in our testing of AFMF 2, it's a huge improvement over the original version. The frame generation feature works with nearly any game, and the second version has much better image quality and stability. In addition, AMD added support for OpenGL and Vulkan with AFMF 2, allowing you to play nearly any PC game with the feature turned on. Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming ReSpec Subscribe Check your inbox! Privacy Policy AFMF 2 and VGM are available through a technical preview driver now. The driver also includes support for the recently released Warhammer 40K: Space Marines 2. As is always the case with preview drivers, there's a chance you could run into some minor bugs, and AMD asks that users report bugs when using a preview driver.