Intel Arc GPU driver update delivers huge boost in gaming performance
Intel’s Arc GPU lineup has received a new update that brings some much-needed performance updates to a whole host of games.
The maligned Intel Arc GPUs are finally getting updates to support older graphical architecture like DX9, which certain games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive still use.
How DirectX works on Intel Arc GPUs
DirectX is the graphical architecture used by almost every title uses to communicate with your hardware. Intel’s new graphics cards haven’t had the best performance with older versions of DirectX until recently. This is due to the company dropping support for DirectX 9, which hasn’t been properly supported by Microsoft for a while.
In place, they run an emulation layer in its place. This has caused some older titles, namely popular esports games, to run poorly in comparison to their Nvidia and AMD counterparts.
This new update should bring a decent boost to performance, with Intel claiming a 1.79x increase for CS:GO at 1080p, and a 1.36x improvement to League of Legends, also at 1080p.
Bigger strategy titles like Stellaris will see a 1.45x improvement at 1440p, while MMO Guild Wars 2 is going to see a small bump of 1.07x and 1.03x at 1440p and 1080p respectively.
DX11 and 12 performance increase on Intel Arc GPUs
Outside of this, Intel is also going to be boosting performance for DX11 and DX12 games. Games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Marvel’s Midnight Suns are included. The Arc GPU drives will bring better performance for the following games:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- DOTA 2
- Fortnite
- The Callisto Protocol
- Warhammer 40K: Darktide
- World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
Updates for CPUs too
Intel will also be bringing these updates to the internal GPUs found on their processors. These include the 11th gen and 12th-generation CPUs, as well as Iris Xe laptop chips.
All patch notes for the graphics driver on Intel’s Arc GPUs, can be found on their website.