Now the CPU and GPU can both access VRAM directly, does a gaming PC need traditional system memory anymore?
At the end of March Microsoft announced a new preview version of its Agility SDK (opens in new tab) (via Guru3D (opens in new tab)) which incorporates a new feature that could deliver gaming PCs that no longer use traditional system memory. Just like an Xbox Series X.
For now, though, GPU Upload Heaps is here to allow both the CPU and the graphics card simultaneous access to the video memory strapped to the GPU. This means that your PC will no longer need to copy large chunks of data from the CPU to the GPU, or therefore retain copies of data both in system memory and in VRAM.
The upshot of this is that, in certain situations, you will see increased game performance because CPU and RAM utilisation should be decreased.
GPU Upload Heaps seems to be another step on the journey started by the introduction of the resizable base address register (BAR) feature a few years back. That made it possible for Windows to manage the graphics card’s memory pool, but now the new feature means your PC’s processor can have direct access to that VRAM.
On the side of the user that means, so long as you have resizable BAR enabled on your system, there’s nothing else necessary for you to be able to access the new GPU Upload Heaps feature.
