Intel has silently fixed its Arc GPUs’ driver overhead, which was degrading performance when paired with some CPUs. According to Hardware Unboxed, the recent Arc Graphics drivers have solved this issue on the B-series cards, though it is not yet a universal solution as some games are still problematic. Even so, this fix will be greatly appreciated by Arc B580 and B570 owners who are likely to be running a mid-range or couple-gen-old CPU.
With these new drivers, Intel has reportedly implemented game-specific optimisations that reduce the performance impact during CPU-bound scenarios; for example, when using a Ryzen 5 5600 processor. For reference, previous Hardware Unboxed testing has uncovered up to a 30% performance degradation when pairing an Arc B580 GPU with a mid-tier processor. While you could assume that this was merely the result of the CPU’s capabilities, equivalent GPUs from AMD showed little to no impact when benchmarked under the same conditions. In other words, it wasn’t the CPU’s fault.
This first batch mainly focuses on games that have previously been reported as problematic, with the rest potentially receiving their fixes later. The outlet has confirmed that starting with the 7028 branch of Intel Arc drivers, the CPU overhead is pretty much fixed on games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Spider-Man Remastered. Note however that it took Intel about five months to optimise these titles as Hardware Unboxed reported them back in April, so don’t expect seeing more overnight.
To put this into numbers, the average framerates increased by 36% in Spider-Man Remastered, while the 1% low fps improved by 43%. These changes are large enough to transform the game’s experience from acceptable to smooth. Great news for those who already own a B-series card, and a potential encouragement for those on the fence. With the B580 currently available at an enticing £229.99, it’s a great time to build a budget gaming PC.
Unfortunately, older chips like the Ryzen 5 2600 still show reduced performance, though it won’t matter much anyway since the average frame rate will be low regardless, including swapping to another GPU.
These unexpected changes have shown us that Intel hasn’t forgotten about its GPU division despite general ongoing issues which is great for those who believed in its graphics offering. With the larger memory pool and competitive pricing, Arc B series becomes an easier option to recommend.
