Intel Arc A-Series GPUs Get A Major FPS Boost After Latest Driver Update
The Arc-A series, Intel‘s lineup of high-end dedicated GPUs, has received a big software upgrade. The latest driver has almost doubled the gaming performance across popular titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League Of Legends, and StarCraft 2.
In a recent blog post, Intel revealed that driver version 101.3959 for Arc-A cards (A770, A750, A380, and mobile GPU variants) brings a notable jump in frame rate across a range of DirectX 9 games. The margin of improvement is a solid 1.5x or greater FPS at 1080p/1440p resolution, with high/ultra in-game settings.
DX9 games receive a big performance bump
Compared to Driver 3490 on the A770 card, the newest driver update brings an FPS boost of 1.79x, 1.54x, and 1.48x in CS: GO (318 FPS from 177 FPS), Stellaris (125 FPS from 81 FPS), and Starcraft 2 (243 FPS from 164 FPS), respectively, on 1080p high configuration.
Bumping it up to 1440p ultra, the most optimized games turn out to be CS: GO (317 FPS from 179 FPS), League Of Legends (336 FPS from 246 FPS), and Stellaris (109 FPS from 75 FPS). Besides these games, the driver also helps the GPU run Payday 2 at 243 FPS (1080p high)/167 FPS (1440p ultra) and Guild Wars 2 at 209 FPS (1080p high)/194 FPS (1440p ultra).
After launching Arc graphic cards less than two months ago, Intel has tried to exhibit its seriousness towards gaming GPUs with this move. Over the forthcoming year, the company would further improve hardware performance via similar updates.
In the post, Intel’s Ryan Shrout highlighted the firm’s commitment, “Further improvements for games based on legacy APIs and general driver enhancements are on their way, and future drivers will continue our march to a refined and more performant product.”
Do you think Intel will be able to compete in the GPU industry where competitors Nvidia and AMD are already well-established? Sound off in the comments below.
