Intel’s Arc driver update shows shocking improvement
It’s no secret that Intel’s relative lack of experience in the GPU game has made its nascent driver software the Achilles’ heel of the new Arc line of GPUs. PCWorld contributor Keith May has been keeping a close eye on the situation, as Intel has opted to follow the usual one-month update cycle. How is Arc looking after two months? That’s the million-dollar question in the latest PCWorld YouTube video.
You can see a full breakdown of the testing setup and all results for launch, month one, and month two in the video above. In short, we’re seeing very marginal improvements for most of the newest games like Cyberpunk 2077, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
The big surprise—and I mean big, stonking, HUGE surprise—is in the improvement in games that use the much older DirectX 9 standard, like Counter-Strike GO. Flat from launch to the first month, the latest drivers approximately double CSGO performance. You read that right: Across low- and high-end graphics settings, we’re seeing a 2x increase in frame rates. Performance was also considerably improved on the newer—but still quite old—Grand Theft Auto V.
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