Intel hasreleasedits latest set of WHQL drivers for both Intel Core Ultra CPUs with Arc Graphics and Desktop Intel Arc Graphics in a single package. The driver version is officially “31.0.101.5186 WHQL and 31.0.101.5234 WHQL”, since two separate GPU drivers are now being bundled into one. Therelease notes [PDF]refer to this as “temporarily increased”, though, so it may not stay this way.
While many titles are receiving updates with this patch,Enshrouded,Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League,Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth,Tekken 8, andPalworldare the ones highlighted the most by Intel. All five of these titles are highlighted for improved Intel Arc A-Series (desktop) support, while Intel only highlights the latter three for improved Core Ultra iGPU support.
For a full list of Known Issues, Fixes, and Notes, we recommend checking the rest of Intel’s officialrelease notes [PDF].
Only three DX12 games received updates for Intel Core Ultra with Intel Arc Graphics. Those three games wereLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth,Returnal, andThe Last of Us Part 1. Like a Dragon receives a 25% FPS boost at 1080p High settings, Returnal receives a 6% boost at 1080p Low settings, and Last of Us receives a 6% boost at Very Low settings.
Intel Arc A-Series Graphics received performance updates for many more games, and some fairly significant performance improvements for a few titles.
As it’s somewhat easy to tell, the overwhelming majority of games that received graphics performance updates wereDirectX11 titles. This bodes well for PC gamers, though, as many of these titles are still being actively played— and there was clearly plenty of room for performance improvements on Intel’s graphics architectures.
Overall, this seems like a decent Quality of Life update for Intel graphics users. It even includes pre-release graphics drivers for Tekken 8, which doesn’t get a full release until this Friday, January 26th.
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Christopher Harper has been a successful freelance tech writer specializing in PC hardware and gaming since 2015, and ghostwrote for various B2B clients in High School before that. Outside of work, Christopher is best known to friends and rivals as an active competitive player in various eSports (particularly fighting games and arena shooters) and a purveyor of music ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Killer Mike to the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack.
