AMD Driver Bug Silently Disables Smart Access Memory On Windows 10, Tanking Gaming Performance And Triggering Crashes
AMD driver bug cripples Windows 10 gaming performance with silent Smart Access Memory disable—users report crashes and FPS drops
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The brief
A newly identified bug in AMD’s latest Adrenalin 26.6.4 WHQL drivers is automatically disabling **Smart Access Memory (SAM)** on Windows 10 systems, according to Wccftech. This feature, which boosts performance by allowing the CPU and GPU to access each other’s memory, is being turned off without user notification, leading to **reduced frame rates and system instability** in supported games.
While AMD has rolled out **FSR 4.1 support** for older cards and announced upcoming RDNA 3 APU compatibility, the driver bug overshadows these updates. TweakTown notes a workaround via **RadeonTuner** for unofficial FSR 4 driver injection, but no official patch has been confirmed.
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Quick answers
Which AMD GPUs are affected?
Coverage specifies **RDNA 3.5 integrated GPUs and RX 7000 series discrete GPUs** running Windows 10 with the latest Adrenalin 26.6.4 drivers.
Is there a temporary fix?
TweakTown reports **RadeonTuner** can inject FSR 4 drivers manually, but this is unofficial. Rolling back to an earlier driver version is also recommended.
Does this affect Windows 11 users?
Coverage does not yet specify whether Windows 11 systems are impacted by the Smart Access Memory bug.
Coverage (6)
- FSR 4.1 for RDNA 3/RX 7000 Review: Hot or not? PCGH · 16h ago
- RadeonTuner enables unofficial FSR 4 driver injection in games with RDNA 3.5 iGPUs TweakTown · 16h ago
- AMD brings official FSR 4.1 support to RX 7000 series GPUs — INT8 model now available in 300+ games, RDNA 3 APUs also getting FSR 4.1 soon Tom's Hardware · 16h ago
- AMD releases FSR 4.1 for older graphics cards earlier than expected PCWorld · 16h ago
- AMD Software Adrenalin 26.6.4 WHQL Drivers Released TechPowerUp · 16h ago
- AMD Driver Bug Silently Disables Smart Access Memory On Windows 10, Tanking Gaming Performance And Triggering Crashes Wccftech · 16h ago
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