It’s no secret that one of the biggest limiting factors of Intel’s newer GPUs has been on the software side. Although these GPUs ran modern titles relatively well, the same could not be said about older games based on previous versions of Direct X.  Thankfully, a recent Intel Graphics Driver seems to have addressed some of this and the company reports MASSIVE gains in performance for some titles which we’ll be taking a look at here.

Intel Graphics Driver: Overview

The Intel Graphics Driver '31.0.101.4952' for Intel Arc A-Series graphic cards and Intel Iris Xe Graphics was made available a few days ago. And this ~700MB driver might be a game changer if you own an Arc Series Intel card like the Arc A770 or the Arc A310 or own an Intel CPU with integrated graphics. Here’s why.

Support for newer titles

This new Intel graphics driver brings support for some new games including the popular FPS shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. Other than that, you can also play games like The Talos Principle 2, Robocop: Rogue City, Star Ocean II R, and “Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name” on your Intel A series card now.

Performance optimization

Besides new games, supported titles also see a performance boost anywhere from a respectable 10% on ‘Total War: Warhammer’ to an astounding 750% on ‘Halo: The Master Cheif Collection’.

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Here are all the games and improvements that Intel reported on.

• Guild Wars 2* (DX11)
  • Up to 53% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection* (DX11)
  • Up to 750% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Enhanced settings
• Sid Meier’s Civilization V* (DX11)
  • Up to 6% average FPS uplift at 1080p with High settings
• Total War: Warhammer* (DX11)
  • Up to 10% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Lost Ark* (DX11)
  • Up to 15% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Very High settings
• Warhammer: Vermintide 2* (DX11)
  • Up to 16% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Extreme settings
• Sniper Elite 3* (DX11)
  • Up to 37% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• World War Z* (DX11)
  • Up to 113% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Euro Truck Simulator 2* (DX11)
  • Up to 27% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Yakuza 0* (DX11)
  • Up to 154% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare* (DX11)
  • Up to 20% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Alien: Isolation* (DX11)
  • Up to 9% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Far Cry* Primal (DX11)
  • Up to 14% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Far Cry 5 (DX11)
  • Up to 14% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
• Far Cry New Dawn (DX11)
  • Up to 11% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings

Intel Driver 31.0.101.4952 Support 

Aside from the A series discrete GPUs, this driver also applies to Intel Iris Xe graphics. That includes integrated graphics on Intel CPUs from the 11th-generation Tiger Lake chips to new 14th-generation CPUs. Intel Graphics Driver 31.0.101.4952 is only available for Windows 10 and Windows 11.  If you have an eligible system, you can download the Intel Graphics Driver 31.0.101.4952 here. 

• Meanwhile, check out our video on the HP Spectre x 360 with the Intel Arc 370M :