Intel Arc: Driver update improves performance in DX9 games

There is a new driver update for Intel’s Arc graphics cards to improve performance in older games based on the DirectX 9 API. The update should significantly boost frame rates, especially in popular competitive titles.

Intel has released a major update to its Arc graphics driver that improves performance in DirectX 9 games, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends. The new driver version 3953, which is being released through Intel’s normal driver distribution process, aims to Up to 80 percent better performance In select DX9 titles compared to previous 3490 versions.

The update is part of a larger effort to improve the performance of Intel’s Arc Graphics products, including the A770, A750, A380, and Arc Mobile GPUs. The company uses a hybrid approach that combines API techniques while better performance is possible using a more modern API implementation.

“We were transparent about the gaming performance of Intel graphics cards across modern and legacy APIs and knew we needed to focus more on the DX9 experience,” said Ryan Schrout, Intel GPU Marketing Manager. “With our latest driver release, we begin introducing substantial improvements to these popular and important titles.”

Photo: Intel

Shrout added that while the average refresh rate increase is impressive, the overall experience improvement and “smoothness” is even better. “If you look at the 99th percentile FPS, you’ll see that ours The relative improvement in CS:GO is more than double Either,” the manager said. “I can say from personal experience that gamers will notice the difference immediately.”