Intel Arc GPU Graphics Drivers 101.5444 Beta Released

Intel may have gotten off to a bit of a limp start with their graphics cards, but with their low prices, and a continuous stream of software updates, they’ve been getting better and better on a pretty much weekly basis, making them a serious contender in the budget market.

This last weekend saw Intel push out a pretty significant update with the release of the Arc GPU Graphics drivers version 101.5444 Beta, which offers a range of significant performance improvements for games running DirectX 11.

The driver provides an up to 30% performance increase with “Astroneer,” an up to 5% increase with “Days Gone,” an up to 15% increase with “Dyson Sphere Program,” up to 14% increase with “Lethal Company” and “Mass Effect Legendary Edition,” an up to 8% increase with “Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord,” an impressive 36% increase with “Need for Speed: Heat,” 5% increases for “Unturned” and VR Chat; and 7% increase with “World of Warships.”

That doesn’t sound like a HUGE update in performance, I know, but when you consider that a single driver update gives you more performance gains that say, upgrading the last gen of Intel CPUs to the next, it certainly seems more impactful, as it’s a free upgrade.

Furthermore, the drivers also extend performance uplifts to the Arc iGPUs powering Core Ultra “Meteor Lake” processors. Tested at 1080p with medium or default settings, you can expect an up to 10% increase for “American Truck Simulator,” an up to 17% increase for “Dyson Sphere Program,” an up to 12% increase with “Fortnite Performance Mode,” an up to 11% increase with “Grim Dawn,” up to 24% performance increase with “Lethal Company,” an impressive 48% increase with “Mass Effect Legendary Edition,” and an up to 19% increase with “Need for Speed: Heat.”

Among the handful of issues fixed with this release include an application crash when launching “No Rest for the Wicked” when launching prologue gameplay; a fullscreen display corruption when switching windows using alt+tab in “Asseto Corsa,” and a display corruption noticed in “Halo Infinite” with ray traced shadows enabled. On Arc iGPUs, an issue that caused “Diablo IV” to exhibit corruption on the terrain has been fixed.

Gaming Highlights

Game performance improvements on Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products versus Intel 31.0.101.5382 software driver for:

• Astroneer (DX11)
  • Up to 30% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Days Gone (DX11)
  • Up to 5% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Very High settings
• Dyson Sphere Program (DX11)
  • Up to 15% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Default settings
• Fortnite Performance Mode (DX11)
  • Up to 15% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Epic settings
• Lethal Company (DX11)
  • Up to 14% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Default settings
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition (DX11)
  • Up to 14% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord (DX11)
  • Up to 8% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Very High settings
• Need for Speed: Heat (DX11)
  • Up to 36% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Unturned (DX11)
  • Up to 5% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• VRChat (DX11)
  • Up to 5% average FPS uplift at 1080p with High settings
• World of Warships (DX11)
  • Up to 7% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Maximum settings

Game performance improvements on Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs versus Intel 31.0.101.5382 software driver for:

• American Truck Simulator (DX11)
  • Up to 10% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Medium settings
• Dyson Sphere Program (DX11)
  • Up to 17% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Default settings
• Fortnite Performance Mode (DX11)
  • Up to 12% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Medium settings
• Grim Dawn (DX11)
  • Up to 11% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Medium settings
• Lethal Company (DX11)
  • Up to 24% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Default settings
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition (DX11)
  • Up to 48% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Medium settings
• Need for Speed: Heat (DX11)
  • Up to 19% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Medium settings

Fixed Issues

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

• No Rest for the Wicked (DX11) may experience application crash while launching prologue gameplay.
• Assetto Corsa (DX11) may exhibit full screen corruption while switching windows using Alt+Tab during gameplay.
• Halo Infinite (DX12) may exhibit corruption with ray traced shadows enabled during gameplay.

Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• Diablo IV (DX12) may exhibit corruption on the terrain during gameplay.

Known Issues

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

• No Rest for the Wicked (DX11) may experience intermittent application crash during gameplay.
• Enshrouded (VK) may experience application crash during gameplay.
• Doom Eternal (VK) may exhibit intermittent flickering corruptions in game menu and during gameplay.
• PugetBench Extended Preset Benchmark may fail to complete on certain Adobe Premiere Pro Processing Tests.
• Topaz Video AI may experience errors when using some models for video enhancement.

Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora (DX12) may experience a crash during game loading.
• Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (DX12) may experience an application crash on loading to gameplay.
• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (DX12) may exhibit corruption on shadows during gameplay.
• PugetBench Extended Preset Benchmark may fail to complete on certain Adobe Premiere Pro Processing Tests.
• Autodesk Maya may experience an application crash while running SPECAPC benchmark.
• Blender may experience an application crash while rendering some scenes on certain system memory configurations.
• Topaz Video AI may experience errors when using some models for video enhancements.
• Procyon AI may experience an application crash while running benchmark with precision float32.

Intel Core Processor (12th-14th Generation) Products:

• Dragon Quest X Online (DX9) may experience sporadic application crash during gameplay.

Intel Arc Control Fixed Issues:

• The “Connector” type in the Display page may incorrectly show DP when using an HDMI display connection.
• Fortnite may experience an application crash on launch when sharpening filter is enabled in Arc Control.
• Intel Graphics Driver Installer may experience intermittent hang with black screen.
• Capture file may save with old file name after changing file name for the first time in Arc Control Capture Page.
• Endurance Gaming license and Rebar information may not show correct information.

Intel Arc Control Known Issues:

• Arc Control Studio capture recording file may become corrupted when the mouse cursor is enabled during HDR capture.
• Arc Control may show intermittent error when trying to enable Virtual Camera and camera preview on Intel Core Ultra with built-in
• Intel Arc GPUs.
• Schedule Updates for Drivers may not work intermittently.