Intel’s New Arc GPU Driver Achieves Up To 87% Performance Uplift Since Launch, Aggregate 43% Improvement In DX9 Titles

Intel’s Arc ambitions have been a dream for PC enthusiasts almost a decade in the making. While everyone realistically expected them to have teething issues in the start, the reality of the Arc launch was that a very capable silicon was combined with immature drivers that were unable to harness its true potential. In exactly what you would expect from a company dedicated to getting a piece of the GPU-market-pie, Intel has slowly but surely turned that story around. DX9 performance especially stuck out like a sore thumb on the Arc graphics and if this recent update is anything to go by – Intel has managed to completely turn that ship around.

You can download the new Intel Arc 4086/4091 driver over here.

Not only has the company managed to improve the raw FPS number but also significantly improved the frame times as well. Here is what the company has managed to achieve in their new 4086 drivers (which should be packaged under the recently launched 4091 drivers) compared to the 3490 launch drivers:

Interestingly, it is not just DX9 titles that the company is improving. Titles such as Warframe – which are based on DX11 have seen up to a 57% increase since launch. Other DX11 titles that have seen significant performance increase includes Total War Warhammer III, Riders Republic and BeamNG Drive. DX11 and DX12 in general have seen roughly a 20% increase in aggregate since launch. These are truly fantastic driver-based performance uplifts and have provided a generational uplift through what is essentially software updates.

Intel is also now boldly asking people to retest the Arc A750 GPU and is stating that their card now offers up to 52% better performance per dollar than the RTX 3060 which has an average selling price of roughly $391 as of January 26,2023. The Arc A750 at the new price point of $249 (and it is actually available at MSRP!) should now be a safe enough pick for people as it looks like Intel has solved most of the pain points at launch and closed most of the stability and performance gaps that were present. We are also sure that their performance is going to continue to increase over time and in a year, you are going to have a very mature driver stack that will be able to make the upcoming Battlemage very competitive.

Intel has been very candid about the problems they were facing and considering this is the first commercial GPU they ever built, a lot of the problems require scope and breadth that can only be solved once you expose the product to the wider-public. It is good to see that Intel has no intention of treating Arc GPUs like abandonware and is burning the midnight oil in order to get consistent and reliable software updates to its early adopters. Kudos, Intel!