Intel Arc GPU Driver Update Promises Massive FPS Gains In DX11/12 Games Up To 119%
If you own an Intel Arc graphics card, congratulations, you're about to receive a huge performance boost in a whole bunch of games. All you have to do is apply the latest Arc GPU driver, version 31.0.101.4885. According to the release notes, double-digit performance gains are there for the taking, culminating in over a 2X performance jump.
The only real caveat is that the latest driver update has not yet received WHQL certification. A WHQL-certified driver release means it's been thoroughly put through its paces by Intel and has passed Windows Hardware Lab Kit testing on multiple platforms and configurations. Intel's WHQL-certified drivers are also signed by Microsoft as compatible with Windows.
What about non-WHQL drivers?
"Drivers that do not have WHQL certification are also thoroughly tested by Intel, are of the same functional quality as WHQL certified drivers, and are signed by Microsoft. The key difference is that non-WHQL drivers have not completed the full Windows Hardware Lab Kit testing prior to release. This is known as an attest-signed driver," Intel explains.
So technically, it's a beta release but most users shouldn't run into any extra issues that wouldn't be present if it were a WHQL driver.
Disclaimer aside, what you're looking at here is a 'Game On' driver release for Assassin's Creed Mirage and Forza Motorsport. That basically means its tuned for optimal performance in those titles, similar to NVIDIA's 'Game Ready' driver releases focus on specific game optimizations. According to Intel, the 31.0.101.4885 driver improves performance in Forza Motorsport (DX12) by up to 19% at 1440p and with High settings.
It also purportedly bumps framerates by up to 27% in Resident Evil 4 (DXR) at 1080p with High ray tracing settings, and 12% in The Last of Us Part 1 (DX12) at 1080p with Ultra settings.
The bulk of the performance gains apply to DX11 titles, including up to 119% faster performance in Deus Ex: Human Revolution at 1080p and High settings, up to a 90% uplift in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare at 1080p with Extra settings.
Here are the other titles that receive a performance boost...
- War Thunder: up to 9% at 1080p / Maximum settings
- Payday 3: up to 37% at 1080p / Ultra settings
- Naraka: Bladepoint: up to 5% at 1080p / Highest settings
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege: up to 32% at 1080p / Ultra settings
- Final Fantasy XIV Online: up to 32% at 1080p / Ultra settings
- Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition: up to 42% at 1080p / Ultra settings
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 3: up to 88% at 1080p / High settings
- Total War: Warhammer 2: up to 10% at 1080p / Ultra settings
- Tomb Raider: up to 10% at 1080p / Ultra settings
- Mad Max: up to 6% at 1080p / Very High settings
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor: up to 14% at 1080p / Ultra settings
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4: up to 8% at 108p / Very High settings
- BeamNG.drive: up to 10% at 1080p / High settings
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance: up to 22% at 1080p / Ultra High settings
- Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition: up to 9% / Ultra settings
Intel's driver team has done a good job optimizing code for new games while simultaneously continuing to tweak performance for older titles. As a result, graphics cards like the Arc A770 and A750 are faster today than they were at launch a year ago.
The latest Arc GPU driver update also squashes several annoying bugs. They include...
- EA Sports FC 24 (DX12) may experience application crash during gameplay.
- UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection (DX12) may exhibit texture corruption on characters.
- Starfield (DX12) may experience sporadic instability in some areas of the game.
- Dying Light 2 Stay Human (DX12) may exhibit color corruption during gameplay.
- Fortnite (DX12) may experience application crash when Global Illumination setting is set to Lumen Epic.
- Adobe After Effects may experience an application crash during render operations
- Some Intel Arc A-Series Graphics notebooks may incorrectly report a higher value than expected for default clock frequency value.
There are some known issues that are lingering, two of which apply to Starfield: players may notice corruption when using Dynamic Resolution Scaling (a workaround is to change the Render Resolution Scale slider value), and text corruptions on certain objects and light sources may be visible during gameplay.
Head to Intel's Arc GPU driver page to download the latest update.
