TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Ye olde Arc A770 gets some fps upgrades, too.
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Intel is making some eye-popping claims for its latest graphics driver release for Arc graphics. According to the official release notes, the Intel Core Ultra series 3—otherwise known as Panther Lake—benefits from a fully 35% uplift in Witcher 3 performance.
Specifically, that's 35% when running at 1080p High, which should be a pretty relevant setting for what is a high-performing iGPU. Witcher 3 wasn't part of our benchmark suite when Andy ran Panther Lake through its paces. However, given the broad performance profile of Witcher 3 and the capability of Panther Lake's iGPU, 1080p High is very much a plausible target.
Our performance review found that the Arc B390 iGPU in Panther Lake delivers roughly 75% the frame rate of an RTX 4050 laptop GPU. And that Nvidia chip generally hits 60 fps-plus in the Witcher 3 at 1080p High.
So, you'd expect a reasonably playable 40-something fps from Panther Lake. Add another 35%, and you'd have a pretty decent experience, though the boost may be fixing what was a slightly anomalous performance in that title for Panther Lake.
The new driver also promises more performance for Intel's now elderly A-Series GPUs, such as the Intel Arc A770, though in this case, it's Resident Evil Requiem that receives more frames. In this context, Intel is actually claiming up to 40% average fps uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings and up to 30% boost at 1440p Ultra.
Anywho, exactly where Intel is extracting the performance from the Arc B390 iGPU in particular is an open question. However, Nick's recent analysis presents one interesting possibility.
He concluded that one limiting factor for the iGPU involves "how well Intel's drivers and firmware currently handle data flows between the shared system memory and the iGPU.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
"There's a decent amount of bandwidth on tap from using fast LPDDR5x, but those DRAM latencies aren't exactly great, and I suspect that stops the Arc B390 from being able to reach its full potential in some games."
So, maybe Intel has made some progress with tuning that shared memory interface. Whatever, the Arc B390 was already the best iGPU out there. Now it's just got that little bit better. If you are running an Arc GPU, you can snag the new driver here.
1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070
2. Best value: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB
3. Best budget: Intel Arc B570
4. Best mid-range: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
5. Best high-end: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Intel is making some eye-popping claims for its latest graphics driver release for Arc graphics. According to the official release notes, the Intel Core Ultra series 3—otherwise known as Panther Lake—benefits from a fully 35% uplift in Witcher 3 performance.
Specifically, that's 35% when running at 1080p High, which should be a pretty relevant setting for what is a high-performing iGPU. Witcher 3 wasn't part of our benchmark suite when Andy ran Panther Lake through its paces. However, given the broad performance profile of Witcher 3 and the capability of Panther Lake's iGPU, 1080p High is very much a plausible target.
Our performance review found that the Arc B390 iGPU in Panther Lake delivers roughly 75% the frame rate of an RTX 4050 laptop GPU. And that Nvidia chip generally hits 60 fps-plus in the Witcher 3 at 1080p High.
So, you'd expect a reasonably playable 40-something fps from Panther Lake. Add another 35%, and you'd have a pretty decent experience, though the boost may be fixing what was a slightly anomalous performance in that title for Panther Lake.
The new driver also promises more performance for Intel's now elderly A-Series GPUs, such as the Intel Arc A770, though in this case, it's Resident Evil Requiem that receives more frames. In this context, Intel is actually claiming up to 40% average fps uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings and up to 30% boost at 1440p Ultra.
Anywho, exactly where Intel is extracting the performance from the Arc B390 iGPU in particular is an open question. However, Nick's recent analysis presents one interesting possibility.
He concluded that one limiting factor for the iGPU involves "how well Intel's drivers and firmware currently handle data flows between the shared system memory and the iGPU.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
"There's a decent amount of bandwidth on tap from using fast LPDDR5x, but those DRAM latencies aren't exactly great, and I suspect that stops the Arc B390 from being able to reach its full potential in some games."
So, maybe Intel has made some progress with tuning that shared memory interface. Whatever, the Arc B390 was already the best iGPU out there. Now it's just got that little bit better. If you are running an Arc GPU, you can snag the new driver here.
1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070
2. Best value: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB
3. Best budget: Intel Arc B570
4. Best mid-range: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
5. Best high-end: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?