Intel has just released a new driver update for its Arc lineup of GPUs. That wouldn’t normally be worth shouting about, but this driver reportedly delivers an average uplift of 30% across a long list of DirectX 11 titles, and it’s not the first driver to deliver such improvements either.
The 31.0.101.5234 (WHQL Certified) driver provides a massive 268% increase in average FPS in Just Cause 4 at 1080p and 160% in Just Cause 3 at 1080p. That does skew the 30% overall average, but some of the other gains are still impressive. A couple of notable examples include Apex Legends improving by an average of 26% at 1080p with Ultra settings, while Assassin’s Creed Syndicate gets a 13% improvement.
Alongside DX11 performance improvements, the new driver adds support for new titles including Enshrouded, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Tekken 8, and Palworld.
DX12 games get some love too, with Returnal performance improving by up to 8%. The Last Of Us Part 1 sees a similar 8% uplift in average FPS performance.
Here’s the full list of games:
Albion Online (DX11)- 11% average FPS uplift at 1080p UltraAnno 1800 (DX11)- 33% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra HighApex Legends (DX11)- 26% average FPS uplift at 1080p UltraAssassin’s Creed Syndicate (DX11)- 13% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra HighBlack Desert Online (DX11) – 18% average FPS uplift at 1080p UltraElder Scrolls Online (DX11)- 10% average FPS uplift at 4K UltraElex II (DX11)- 101% average FPS uplift at 1080p UltraHumankind (DX11)- 11% average FPS uplift at 1080p FantasticHunt: Showdown (DX11) – 27% average FPS uplift at 1080p HighJust Cause 3 (DX11)- 160% average FPS uplift at 1080p Very HighJust Cause 4 (DX11)- 268% average FPS uplift at 1080p Very HighNew World (DX11)- 13% average FPS uplift at 1080p Very HighReturnal (DX12)- 8% average FPS uplift at 1080p EpicSid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (DX11)- 32% average FPS uplift at 1080p HighSons of the Forest (DX11)-15% average FPS uplift at 1080p UltraSpace Engineers (DX11)- 69% average FPS uplift at 1080p ExtremeStar Citizen (DX11)- 9% average FPS uplift at 1080p Very HighStar Wars Squadrons (DX11)- 6% average FPS uplift at 1080p UltraStellaris (DX11)- 5% average FPS uplift at 1080p HighTekken 8 (DX12)-15% average FPS uplift at 4K UltraThe Last of Us Part 1 (DX12)- 8% average FPS uplift at 1080p UltraWarframe (DX11)- 20% average FPS uplift at 1080p HighWatch Dogs: Legion (DX11)-16% average FPS uplift at 1080p UltraXCOM 2 (DX11)- 4% average FPS uplift at 1080p Maximum
Many of these gains are at 1080p, which is where CPU limitations are more apparent. This points towards reductions in overhead as much as anything else. If you do grab this driver, your performance improvements may vary.
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Alongside performance improvements, the driver fixes some issues with Alan Wake 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the Talos Principle 2. The latter only applies to Core Ultra CPUs. That’s no less important though, given variants of these CPUs will find their way into gaming handhelds.
Intel’s Arc GPUs didn’t set the world on fire when they launched, but full credit to Intel for really persevering with driver development. One can only imagine how different the reception of cards like the Arc A750 and A770 would have been had Intel come out of the gate with these optimizations. It’s not like building a gaming graphics card driver is child’s play though, so I won’t judge Intel too harshly.
What will really matter is whether these optimizations are incorporated into drivers for Intel’s next generation Battlemage GPU family. We can only hope Intel will give AMD and Nvidia a kick up the butt. Healthy competition from Battlemage is something all gamers should be hoping for.
The 31.0.101.5234 driver supports Intel Arc A-series graphics cards, Iris Xe integrated graphics (from 11th Gen onwards) and Core Ultra processors with integrated Arc graphics.
