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 Ultra
- Anno 1800 (DX11) - 33% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra High
- Apex Legends (DX11) - 26% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (DX11) - 13% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra High
- Black Desert Online (DX11) - 18% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra
- Elder Scrolls Online (DX11) - 10% average FPS uplift at 4K Ultra
- Elex II (DX11) - 101% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra
- Humankind (DX11) - 11% average FPS uplift at 1080p Fantastic
- Hunt: Showdown (DX11) - 27% average FPS uplift at 1080p High
- Just Cause 3 (DX11) - 160% average FPS uplift at 1080p Very High
- Just Cause 4 (DX11) - 268% average FPS uplift at 1080p Very High
- New World (DX11) - 13% average FPS uplift at 1080p Very High
- Returnal (DX12) - 8% average FPS uplift at 1080p Epic
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (DX11) - 32% average FPS uplift at 1080p High
- Sons of the Forest (DX11) -15% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra
- Space Engineers (DX11) - 69% average FPS uplift at 1080p Extreme
- Star Citizen (DX11) - 9% average FPS uplift at 1080p Very High
- Star Wars Squadrons (DX11) - 6% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra
- Stellaris (DX11) - 5% average FPS uplift at 1080p High
- Tekken 8 (DX12) -15% average FPS uplift at 4K Ultra
- The Last of Us Part 1 (DX12) - 8% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra
- Warframe (DX11) - 20% average FPS uplift at 1080p High
- Watch Dogs: Legion (DX11) -16% average FPS uplift at 1080p Ultra
- XCOM 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.
Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
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.
