A few months ago AMD presented the 3D V-Cache technology. Such technology allows stacking different cache memory chips on the processor. This gives the processor more space to store instructions and access them in less time than if it accessed RAM. (Ultram) AMD’s solution for Ryzen, Threadripper and EPYC processors brings a little extra performance (up to 10% more)
Gigabyte updates its motherboard drivers to support Ryzen 7 5800X3D
This driver released by Gigabyte has elements that attract attention. The first aspect of “AMD 3D V-Cache Performance Optimized Driver” is only intended for users of Windows 10 and Windows 11. It tells us that we should not have compatibility problems, regardless of the operating system we are using.
AMD does not currently offer an official firmware, so this is a solution developed by Gigabyte. What this means is that it is not based on code developed by AMD. We shouldn’t have any problems, in principle, but who knows.
So far the details of AMD’s “V-Cache optimizer” are unknown. Only the Gigabyte drivers give some information about it. Although the information at the moment is quite limited, since not many details are given about this driver.
It is not the only interesting feature of this Gigabyte controller. Also, add to amd chipset the ability to support USB4 interface. The interesting thing about this is that it is only intended for users with the Windows 10 operating system. Also, it only applies to Zen3+-based Ryzen 6000 Mobile processors codenamed Rembrandt. They are the only Ryzen processors, at the moment, that support USB4 connectivity.
3D V-Cache is invisible
When this technology was officially presented, AMD highlighted that it was specially designed for gaming. It should offer up to 10% more performance at best. It is a new mechanism to combat Intel processors and the technologies they integrate.
As reported by AMD, the operating system and applications cannot see the 3D V-Cache. The software detects it as a single block of L3 cache. This would indicate that a chipset firmware update is not really required.
Considering this, that Gigabyte has released a specific driver is quite puzzling. If all motherboards that support Ryzen 5000 require no changes and the operating system and applications do not see the cache layers and see it as a single set, what is this driver really for?
There are some doubts that the company may end up explaining in the coming days. We’ll see if in the end all motherboard manufacturers release drivers for compatibility with the new 3D V-Cache processor.
