Intel XeSS 1.1 SDK Update Brings Better Performance & Visual Updates, iGPU Performance Demoed

Intel has published a new video talking about its recent XeSS 1.1 SDK update along with a demo of iGPU performance using the AI-based upscaler.

The new Intel XeSS 1.1 SDK brings two major updates to improve visual quality & temporal stability through a new XeSS Upscaling model for cross-vendor and integrated GPUs and an advanced XeSS Upscaling model for Arc GPUs that improves temporal stability (flicker/moire).

The new model also integrates new Kernels that include Faster XMX kernels (Arc Alchemist), Faster DP4a Kernels (TGL / ADL / RPL iGPU), and Faster Cross-Vendor kernels (SM 6.4 GPUs).

XeSS is an AI-based super-sampling technique which reconstructs a low-resolution non-antialiased frame into a high-resolution fully-antialiased frame. And it does that at a fraction of the cost of high-resolution native rendering.

During this talk, we introduce XeSS and cover some of the challenges that upscalers have to deal with. Then we follow that by going through updates that XeSS 1.1 brings and watch demos on Intel integrated and discrete GPUs. We will also talk about best practices and guidelines on how to integrate XeSS into a game title. Last topic is the upcoming XeSS Dataset Toolkit that makes it easy to collect and assemble a custom XeSS model training dataset for a particular game title.

via Game.Intel

In terms of performance, what this means is that gamers will notice a small performance boost as the XeSS Kernel runtimes are reduced across all visual fidelity and upscaling modes. For example, if you are targeting your game to run at 60 FPS, you have half the millisecond's worth of extra time off each frame for your rendering budget.

A game demo of Shadow of The Tomb Raider from Crystal Dynamics is showcased which gives us a comparison between XeSS 1.0 and XeSS 1.1 with the latest version cleaning up almost all artifacts that were encountered in the previous version such as Moire and flickering. Intel is also sharing the scaling factors of its XeSS upscaling technology which are listed in the chart below:

Lastly, Intel talks about building XeSS for iGPUs and Cross-Vendor chips (AMD / Intel / etc) too. The iGPUs mostly target lower input resolution for 1080p gaming using XeSS and don't have the higher throughput matrix engines such as XMX on Alchemist GPUs. The Lower-through memory is shared with the CPU and the budget between frame rendering is less than 5ms to target 30-60 FPS at FHD. DP4a acceleration is used for the acceleration in Xe-based iGPUs.

For the first time, Intel has shown the Intel Core i7-1370P with Integrated Iris Xe graphics running XeSS across several games at 1080p (Medium Quality) in XeSS Balanced and Performance modes:

Overall, it's great to see Intel continue to work on XeSS and further improve it which bodes well for their existing and future dGPU and iGPU lineup. As we talk about the XeSS 1.1 SDK update,

Intel Game On Driver support on Intel Arc A-series Graphics for:

Performance optimizations on Intel Arc A-series Graphics for:

Intel Arc Graphics Products:

Intel Core Processor Products:

INTEL ARC CONTROL FIXED ISSUES:

Intel is also releasing its latest 31.0.101.4255 WHQL driver today which adds support for Resident Evil IV: Remake and also improves performance across variants games and issues several bug fixes. The driver can be downloaded here.