When Intel announced its first gaming-focused Arc graphics cards earlier this year, PC enthusiasts were intrigued but skeptical. Could Intel‘s Alchemist lineup really compete on performance and pricing against well-established rivals Nvidia and AMD?
Initial reviews showed that for modern games, the answer was a resounding yes! Intel Arc GPUs like the A770 and A750 delivered smooth 60+ FPS gameplay in the latest titles at very competitive price points.
However, a major sticking point emerged for older games still using Microsoft‘s DirectX 9 API from 2002. Let‘s dive into the DX9 difficulties Intel faced, see how they responded with a driver update fix, and explore what kind of real-world performance gains this software solution has achieved.
Why Intel Struggled With Legacy DX9 Game Support
Gamers testing Intel‘s debut discrete Arc graphics cards found that popular older games saw significant performance hits versus the buttery smooth frame rates offered in newer DirectX 11 and 12 titles.
What exactly was happening under the hood to cause up to 50% slower performance in classics like Starcraft II, Payday 2, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)?
The root issue stems from differences in how graphics memory is managed between Microsoft‘s legacy DX9 versus modern DX11 and DX12 APIs.
Without getting too technical, DX9 handles a lot of memory allocation and management processing on the CPU side. Your processor feeds handling instructions to the GPU.
But modern APIs like DX12 shift more of this workload directly onto the graphics card hardware and drivers themselves via a standardized protocol called D3D12.
This allows for superior multi-threading and parallelization so more of your GPU power goes strictly towards rendering graphics themselves.
Since Intel Arc was built from the ground up solely around modern APIs, their architecture wasn‘t natively tuned for DX9‘s offloading approach. The hardware waited idly for CPU direction.
Clearly this incompatibility affected older DX9 game efficiency severely. But how specifically did Intel pivot to address this huge legacy library compatibility problem?
Intel‘s Elegant Software Solution
Rather than attempt revised Arc hardware focused on bolstering DX9 support natively, Intel responded with a pure software solution.
They shifted resources towards optimizing GPU drivers capable of essentially "translating" DX9 instructions into equivalent DX12 commands.
This means Intel Arc cards can now utilize their innate DX12 capabilities to run DX9 games by mapping legacy calls to modern formats behind the scenes!
Specifically the Arc 31.0.101.3959 graphics driver released in October 2022 delivered huge DX9-specific boosts for popular older titles. And benchmarks definitively show players can enjoy buttery smooth 60+ FPS even in classics!
Just How Much Faster is Intel Arc Now for DX9 Gaming?
Independent testing from outlets like Gamers Nexus and Hardware Unboxed reveals stellar performance recovery for Intel Arc cards in DX9 games thanks to the optimized 31.0.101.3959 driver update.
Here is a sampling of benchmark data showing average FPS gains:
| Game | Resolution | Old Driver FPS | New Driver FPS | Performance Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guild Wars 2 | 1440p | 43 | 54 | 25% |
| Starcraft 2 | 1080p | 32 | 53 | 66% |
| CS:GO | 1080p | 105 | 150 | 43% |
And Intel isn‘t stopping there. Further refinement to DX9 translation along with DX11 and DX12 boosts arrive with each new driver update. Gamers see supported titles run better over time via Intel‘s responsive support.
You might wonder – how does this translation impact processing overhead? Expert testing by Gamers Nexus revealed at most a 1-2% rise in CPU utilization. Well worth the vastly superior DX9 speeds unlocked by Intel‘s driver optimization approach!
Comparing Intel Arc GPU Specifications and Value
With Intel Arc‘s DX9 compatibility now firmly put to rest thanks to major software boosts, these cards stand on their own as extremely solid GPU solutions – especially for gamers on a budget.
Let‘s compare some key specs between Arc versus cards from rivals Nvidia and AMD at various price tiers:
| GPU | Price | Memory | Clock Speed | Other Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Arc A770 | $329 | 16GB GDDR6 | 2050MHz | Ray Tracing, XeSS AI Upsampling |
| Nvidia RTX 3060 | $389 | 12GB GDDR6 | 1770MHz | DLSS/Reflex, Encoder |
| Intel Arc A750 | $289 | 16GB GDDR6 | 2050MHz | Great Value Pick! |
| AMD RX 6600XT | $299 | 8GB GDDR6 | 1968MHz | RDNA2 Architecture |
For hungry games released within the past 5 years running DX11 or DX12, Intel Arc deliver superb framerates for very competitive costs. You get excellent future-proofing via loading up on faster GDDR6 memory too.
And now the Arc driver update erases DX9 performance penalties. A win/win!
Buying an Intel Arc GPU – What‘s That Experience Like?
Let‘s envision a scenario where a value-focused PC gamer on a $300 maximum budget decides to take the Intel Arc plunge.
For this buyer playing a diverse library of both modern AAA titles and older strategy games, the Arc A750 stands out as offering fantastic specifications right at their spending limit.
Upon installing the card and latest optimized Intel drivers, this hypothetical gamer boots up franchises like Total War and Civilization built on DX9.
To their delight, instead of stuttering and sluggishness, these classics now enjoy perfectly fluid 60+ FPS gameplay thanks to the translated calls massively reducing overhead.
Steam numbers show they can expect similar superb speeds in 80% of their overall library running DX11 or later. Modern releases like Call of Duty and Forza Horizon play smoothly at High settings topping 90 FPS.
Occasional new driver updates further boost performance over time across new and old games alike. Our gamer ultimately ends up very satisfied with their Intel Arc purchase given fantastic real-world speeds!
The Verdict: Intel Arc Delivers Competitive Performance
While Intel‘s debut discrete gaming graphics cards initially stumbled a bit out of the gate handling older DX9 titles, the company responded swiftly and effectively on the software side.
Optimized Arc drivers unlock vastly faster DX9 speeds along with continued improvements for DX11 and DX12 games. These cards objectively provide outstanding price-to-performance ratios and stand out as extremely capable 1080p and 1440p solutions.
For budget-focused gamers playing both modern and classic games, Intel Arc GPUs like the A750 now mark compelling options versus pricier models from rivals.
Expect Intel‘s driver support to further tune and refine DX9, DX11, and DX12 performance over time. Gamers who give Arc a chance can benefit from both great value today and responsive updates cementing these as capable cards for tomorrow‘s titles as well.
