Intel Arc GPU Driver Pilots A Massive 159% Uplift In Starfield And More Big Gains
Hot on the heels of releasing the Arc A580 for gamers on a budget, Intel has released a new WHQL-certified Arc GPU driver (version 31.0.101.4887) that's tuned for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III beta, as well as Total War: PHARAOH and Lords of the Fallen. However, beyond the 'Game On' designation for those titles (similar to NVIDIA's 'Game Ready' designation), what really stands out are huge performance claims for some other titles.
One of those is Starifield, which ranks as Bethesda's biggest game launch of all time. According to Intel, Arc GPU owners can expect up to a staggering 149% performance gain when playing at 1440p with High settings, and up to 117% faster performance at 1080p with Ultra settings.
Those figures are compared to the previous 31.0.101.4885 driver release. Looking at the footnotes, Intel tested the updated driver on a machine outfitted with a Core i9-13900K processor, ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero motherboard, 32GB of Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB DDR5-5600 RAM, Arc A750 LE graphics card, and Windows 11 Pro.
We've seen Intel claim massive FPS uplifts via updated GPU drivers before, though they've mostly been focused on older titles. Not this time—Intel is also flaunting a 136% uplift in F1 23 when playing at 4K with Ultra High settings and 12% at 1440p, also with High settings. And in Forza Motorsport, Intel claims a modest 8% gain at 1080 with Ultra settings.
So that's at least three instances where Intel says its latest driver more than doubles performance (Starfield at 1440p/High and 1080p/Ultra, and F1 23 at 4K/Ultra High). That's impressive.
Intel also fixed a couple of issues with its latest Arc GPU driver, including whatever was causing texture corruptions on certain objects and light sources in Starfield, and color corruptions in night scenes with ray tracing turned on in Minecraft.
You can grab the latest Arc driver though Intel's Arc Control software or by heading to Intel's GPU driver page.
