My Arc 380 adventure.

griff30

Supreme [H]ardness
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I got my Asrock ARC 3380 Monday. Work anniversary Wednesday and softball taking much of the week, I waited till Saturday afternoon to put the GPU in.
OK system: Asus ROG Crosshair VII Hero with WIFI, AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, LSI Raid card with 8 4TB external hard swappable hard drives.
G.Skill 3200 16GB DDR 4, EVGA GTX 1070 this system has worked for the most part FLAWLESSLY for 5 years. Yes I know there no REBAR or Smart Access Memory in the CPU and motherboard but one of their engineers said it wasn't absolutely necessary but would still run with less performance.
As I planned on using this for Plex server, gaming was no interest outside of maybe BlueStack android gaming which is not demanding. My expectation was for unlimited streams and faster encode/decode of codecs and future proof with AV1.

I removed the GTX 1070 and put in the Asrock A380 Booted the computer and no boot.

Do something.jpg


Nothing. not for 20+ minutes.
Moved server to dinning room table for more space. Removed the RAID card and hard drives
I put an older AMD card in with as a primary card and booted to windows. I did not want to draw a shit ton of power just to get this running.
Success. I have Windows again, at least. Went to Intel's site and it recognized the system as having the card and directed me to download the latest driver and reboot.
I turn off system and, removed the AMD card, placed the Intel card as the sole GPU, pushed start and waited.
Nothing. Waited 30 minutes....See above picture.
Shut down, placed AMD card in as primary and Intel card as secondary. Again.
Wash rinse repeat. 2 more times trying to get the Intel card to work by itself. nothing. Go to bed and play with the wife.

Sunday 0830, start again. Now with a notepad for science sake and I started this "Adventure" post.

Restarted with an AMD card as secondary and connected to monitor. It boots as usual and the Intel Graphics Command Center sees the card but weirdly, Intel Arc Control app says "Platform not supported" and is blurred out.
 
0930.
Watching some videos, now noting that Tech Jesus at Gamers Nexus seems to have been driven nuts with the drivers and has tried many drivers. Nice.
I can't even get a boot screen.
Perplexed, I have been putting PCs together since Pentium 166MHz days.
I've been overclocking and lurking in this forum since the Elsa Erazor 3 review, that I wound up buying. I think that says I am a bit old but well versed in this shit.
 
Maybe Intel wasn’t kidding when they said resizable memory was a requirement…..
There was one lady at Intel said it would run without REBAR or SAM in a blog or Twitter post, just reduced performance.
I have a feeling though, it is an absolute and will not work with older systems and non Intel systems over 3 years old. This will not work on this system.
Meh, not exactly a paperweight. I have an Intel machine with an older card. I won't be out completely but I will not use this on my Plex machine.
 
Just to be clear, on the latest BIOS revs, all Crosshair VI and VII mainboards have ReBAR support. That CPU def does not support it though...

Have you tried running the card solo in the PCIe Gen 2 slot - should be the bottom-most x16 slot. You might also consider trying reducing the PCIe speeds in the BIOS and see if that helps.
 
There was one lady at Intel said it would run without REBAR or SAM in a blog or Twitter post, just reduced performance.
I have a feeling though, it is an absolute and will not work with older systems and non Intel systems over 3 years old. This will not work on this system.
Meh, not exactly a paperweight. I have an Intel machine with an older card. I won't be out completely but I will not use this on my Plex machine.
Have you not watched all the coverage or any of it about intels OWN misinformation? THEY literally can’t give tech media any of the same answers sometimes on the same day (as cited by GN).

If 99.999% of the info out there says it’s required, you aren’t going to find much sympathy here for looking like you’re spending hours trying to solve a problem that doesn’t already have an answer. If you’ve been around [H] as long as you say, then this will make perfect sense.
 
@Dreambydesign and duronboy - I think it is somewhat premature to say the issue is DEFINTELY ReBAR (or component age) in this case. We just don't know enough about the details of that system's config. Is the mainboard even on the latest BIOS? There are a lot of variables here that can make a difference. I've personally seen systems refuse to post with a particular video card that works just fine in other machines where the issue was resolved with a BIOS flash of the mainboard or GPU, for example. At this time, no ReBAR is a possible answer, not the definitive answer.

Now if OP were to put in a newer gen Ryzen on the board and enable ReBAR in the BIOS while changing NOTHING ELSE, and the A380 started working as expected... then you would have a much more reasonable argument that ReBAR is the culprit here. Even then, I'd also try the newer CPU with ReBAR off before making that assertion.
 
Also, nice Plex rig, man. Mine is a Ryzen 3900X running on a Crosshair VI Hero with 16G ECC memory, a 256G NVMe, a 10G Intel NIC and a Rsdeon R7 260X (just for local console support for when I can't remote in) running on Windows 11. Media Storage is handled by an old Dell R515 server running Server 2019 on 2x Opteron 6-Core CPUs and 32G of server RAM with 256G SATA SSD for OS, 8x8TB HD's in RAID 6 mirrored to another 8x8TB RAID 6 array in a drive shelf, and also connected by Intel 10G NIC. I'm using iSCSI to connect the Dell to the Plex server, which also allows me to use BackBlaze from the Plex server at the $10/month rate for cloud backup.

For what it's worth, on the Plex server ReBAR IS enabled in the BIOS although the GPU does not support it. I am really interested in what you find out, because I was also considering getting an Arc card just for the encoders.
 
@Dreambydesign and duronboy - I think it is somewhat premature to say the issue is DEFINTELY ReBAR (or component age) in this case. We just don't know enough about the details of that system's config. Is the mainboard even on the latest BIOS? There are a lot of variables here that can make a difference. I've personally seen systems refuse to post with a particular video card that works just fine in other machines where the issue was resolved with a BIOS flash of the mainboard or GPU, for example. At this time, no ReBAR is a possible answer, not the definitive answer.

Now if OP were to put in a newer gen Ryzen on the board and enable ReBAR in the BIOS while changing NOTHING ELSE, and the A380 started working as expected... then you would have a much more reasonable argument that ReBAR is the culprit here. Even then, I'd also try the newer CPU with ReBAR off before making that assertion.
I think I'll try a newer AMD CPU later.
For now it will go in a lowly i5
 
fwiw.. I'm not using rebar but stuck my A380 in a H77 w/ 4790K if that matters.
 
Yes, I had tried those too. No workie. None of them.
Yes Resizable Bar enabled in BIOS dated July 2022.
The CPU Ryzen 2700X does not support Rebar though. I'm inclined to think this is more that just that. The thing does not even spin the fan or have video out.
I was about to look for a DP to HDMI dongle just to see if it would work. Thing is the Intel software half way recognizes it. It launches to the website and says everything is hunky dory. No video out and the other portion of software says that it is not supported.
I have since yanked it out and put the hacked GTX1070 back. Yes I hacked the software for more than 2 transcodes.
ARC 380 will go in a light use homework PC the kids use. My 15 year old son looked at me funny when I offered to put it in his PC. I put a RTX 3090 system together with him in January 2021

420147_PXL_20210112_205347331.jpg
He said, "Your kidding right?"
So yeah, the A380 goes to school work in an i5 system.
 
yeesh here i wanted to get those super micro arctic sound gpus for encode /decode with Topaz Video aI think ill have to wait see if they even bother to release or fix the issues.
 
That TechPowerUp Article you guys are linking said:
The PCI resizable-BAR feature is an absolute must for Intel Arc "Alchemist" graphics cards to perform as advertised, to the extent that Intel recommends sticking to "other vendors" (NVIDIA, AMD), for those on machines that lack resizable-BAR or prefer it disabled. In our testing of the Arc A380, we found a big performance gap between resizable-BAR being enabled and disabled. The company said that while it is working on driver optimizations that improve performance for machines lacking resizable-BAR, its general advice for those on older platforms is to stick with other vendors.

Resizable-BAR enables the software to see the entire video memory of a graphics card as a single large addressable block, rather than through 256 MB apertures. AMD and NVIDIA's driver architectures have optimized their memory-management to cope with these apertures through the advent of PCI-Express, but Intel Arc hasn't. Its memory-management model relies on large bursts of memory transfers, for which it needs resizable-BAR. The performance penalty for lacking it could be as high as 40 percent. In related news, Intel Graphics confirmed that the Arc A770 will be available both in 16 GB and 8 GB memory variants at launch—which is still slated for Soonuary, 2022.

Emphasis mine. Nothing here says it does not or should not work without ReBAR - just that the performance will be absolute shit without it. OP should still get a picture on the damn thing.
 
What is this thread even arguing anymore? Intel is very specific. You need to have resizable bar for any sort of performance and in some instances to even work on a system. If you don’t have it or don’t want to use it, INTEL says stay away and try team red or green. End of story.
 
What is this thread even arguing anymore? Intel is very specific. You need to have resizable bar for any sort of performance and in some instances to even work on a system. If you don’t have it or don’t want to use it, INTEL says stay away and try team red or green. End of story.

Except Intel does not say that at all...

They NEVER say anywhere there are instances the card will not operate without ReBAR - they only say the performance will be ExTrA really bad as opposed to just really bad. So ExTrA really bad, in fact, that they would prefer you to just skip that jazz and go ahead & buy something else from a competitor. As the OP's intent is to use the card for it's encoders, game performance is irrelevant. It literally just needs to put up a picture of the desktop. There are modern Windows servers using integrated Matrox MGA 200 video from 1997 that can do this. ReBAR should have no appreciable performance impact on the encoders.

With tech outfits testing the card with ReBAR both enabled AND disabled, it is unlikely that the ReBAR is the problem in this instance.
 
Except Intel does not say that at all...

They NEVER say anywhere there are instances the card will not operate without ReBAR - they only say the performance will be ExTrA really bad as opposed to just really bad. So ExTrA really bad, in fact, that they would prefer you to just skip that jazz and go ahead & buy something else from a competitor. As the OP's intent is to use the card for it's encoders, game performance is irrelevant. It literally just needs to put up a picture of the desktop. There are modern Windows servers using integrated Matrox MGA 200 video from 1997 that can do this. ReBAR should have no appreciable performance impact on the encoders.

With tech outfits testing the card with ReBAR both enabled AND disabled, it is unlikely that the ReBAR is the problem in this instance.

There’s plenty of official Intel sources out there for you to pick through. Enable rebar or do not buy ARC currently. Also don’t clog forums with confusing threads asking why your non rebar system doesn’t play nice with ARC. That’s all I’m trying to say.
 
There’s plenty of official Intel sources out there for you to pick through. Enable rebar or do not buy ARC currently. Also don’t clog forums with confusing threads asking why your non rebar system doesn’t play nice with ARC. That’s all I’m trying to say.

I don't know what else I can say to you about this - the card is not working at all on the OP's system. That should not be happening under any circumstance. The card can be excused for having shit performance on the OP's system, but it should still actually function regardless. ReBAR does not even factor in until you're in the OS sending 3D data to the card. The card is not even POSTing! The fact that it does not function is indicative of a problem with this configuration that is extremely unlikely to be ReBAR since the card has been successfully proven to function without it in other systems. Hell, OP said he was going to throw it in an i5 system, but never got back to us if the card actually worked in that system or not. There's a good chance it's just a defective card.

Dude... seriously about this ReBAR... it's something else, and I at least, would like to know what that something else actually is. On paper even without ReBAR, this card is a Plex server owner's dream.

And if it ultimately turns out OP just got a defective card, that tells us something too regarding potential New-In-Box failure issues.
 
Im curious as to how this pans out. Also curious to if it will work on a AMD cpu like a 5000 series and also an Intel with no igpu like a Xeon.
 
the card is not working at all on the OP's system. That should not be happening under any circumstance.

Yeah, and I can't think of any cards with fans that I've owned or tested didn't immediately spin up the fans to 100 percent on power on. Even if it's just for a second or two, and I also can't think of any video cards that would stop the fans outside of an OS environment. Zero cooling on a graphics card, without a driver in control, that would absolutely torch anything that isn't designed for passive cooling.

No fan, no video out or POST; this has all the hallmarks of a defective part minus any magic smoke.
 
There’s plenty of official Intel sources out there for you to pick through. Enable rebar or do not buy ARC currently. Also don’t clog forums with confusing threads asking why your non rebar system doesn’t play nice with ARC. That’s all I’m trying to say.
I am saying if you are not interested in him sharing his experience with the hardware, you sir are in the wrong thread.
 
I am saying if you are not interested in him sharing his experience with the hardware, you sir are in the wrong thread.

I agree with you... I'm interested in any commentary related to these cards.

That kind of nit-picking is irritating.
 
<subscribed>

Curious to know how this pans out.
I'm RMAing it back to newegg for refund.
The card IS recogized in a 'slave' GPU position but un useable in any form.
As a slave card, Windows recognized it. Intel software recognized it but fails function. Does not assist in any encode as slave.
The fan never spins, no display out and does not assist in encode. I even thought of trying a DP dongle but I've wasted enough time.
RMA it goes. I think it's actually defective.
 
I'm RMAing it back to newegg for refund.
The card IS recogized in a 'slave' GPU position but un useable in any form.
As a slave card, Windows recognized it. Intel software recognized it but fails function. Does not assist in any encode as slave.
The fan never spins, no display out and does not assist in encode. I even thought of trying a DP dongle but I've wasted enough time.
RMA it goes. I think it's actually defective.
Well, hopefully that isn't typical of the Intel Arc, or Asrock quality. Hopefully Newegg refunds you quickly. I'm sure they have plenty to exchange tho....
I'd like to see someone beat one of these around a bit, but I get your frustration. Shame it's such a pain.
I too have been considering one of these for Plex duty
 
There’s plenty of official Intel sources out there for you to pick through. Enable rebar or do not buy ARC currently. Also don’t clog forums with confusing threads asking why your non rebar system doesn’t play nice with ARC. That’s all I’m trying to say.
Could you link one of those numerous Intel sources that state how ReBAR is a requirement for the card to work?
 
I haven't tried the A380 in my Ryzen system yet but am willing to see if it's an issue. I didn't even know wtf rebar was until it told me I wasn't running it. Looked it up and saw it was primarily a game boosting feature and pretty much useless in my use case and the ops as a transcoder/encoder for AV1 and QSV. A card should boot out of the box and agree that this is probably a faulty video card. (or some really weird incompatibility.)

Also.. who's buying a A380 to game when the market is ripe atm for cards that destroy it with less headaches? I don't game on mine and it's been my Plex video card for a week or so now. I can't complain on performance since I had issues clicking around transport controls using NVENC and don't anymore. Albeit plex is getting on my nerves lately with the updates/changes and might just move over to Jellyfin or Emby for AV1 support. I think the linux version of Plex also supports AV1 if you build it with the latest ffmpeg.
 
I haven't tried the A380 in my Ryzen system yet but am willing to see if it's an issue. I didn't even know wtf rebar was until it told me I wasn't running it. Looked it up and saw it was primarily a game boosting feature and pretty much useless in my use case and the ops as a transcoder/encoder for AV1 and QSV. A card should boot out of the box and agree that this is probably a faulty video card. (or some really weird incompatibility.)

Also.. who's buying a A380 to game when the market is ripe atm for cards that destroy it with less headaches? I don't game on mine and it's been my Plex video card for a week or so now. I can't complain on performance since I had issues clicking around transport controls using NVENC and don't anymore. Albeit plex is getting on my nerves lately with the updates/changes and might just move over to Jellyfin or Emby for AV1 support. I think the linux version of Plex also supports AV1 if you build it with the latest ffmpeg.
I'm curious to know how an A380 would run as a PCIe passthrough GPU on Proxmox VE to a Linux VM. Right now I'm doing so with a RTX 2060 for jellyfin & jellyfin-ffmpeg5 on EndeavourOS.
 
I'm RMAing it back to newegg for refund.
The card IS recogized in a 'slave' GPU position but un useable in any form.
As a slave card, Windows recognized it. Intel software recognized it but fails function. Does not assist in any encode as slave.
The fan never spins, no display out and does not assist in encode. I even thought of trying a DP dongle but I've wasted enough time.
RMA it goes. I think it's actually defective.

Don't suppose you'd be willing to fire it up in one of your other PCs prior to boxing it up just to see if the problem is exclusive to it being used with your Ryzen or Crosshair VII, would you? I would really like to know this as most of my systems are built on Crosshair VI and VII boards.
 
Someone at Anandtech forums is using one without any issues (video encoding purposes) with 4770K. It definitely should work even without ReBAR.
 
Could you link one of those numerous Intel sources that state how ReBAR is a requirement for the card to work?
There isn't one. The closest one can get is:

Q: Why do I need to enable Resizable BAR?

A: Resizable BAR must be enabled for optimal performance in all applications using Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics.

Source: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000091128/graphics.html

Whilst not functioning at all certainly is not "optimal performance", rebar being a requirement for the card to work would still be an unusually broad interpretation of the stated reason.
 
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Someone at Anandtech forums is using one without any issues (video encoding purposes) with 4770K. It definitely should work even without ReBAR.


Well, of course it is. you just need the right roll-of-the dice for supported motherboard.

Thanks, buggy alpha firmware, free with every Intel purchase :D!
 
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