Intel Arc GPUs Now 1.8X Faster In DirectX 9 After Performance Update

Driver 3953 brings massive improvements for Intel Arc GPUs in DX9. Now 1.8X Faster thanks to FPS, frame-times, and latency improvements.

Intel has been busy working on improving its drivers for the Arc GPU series for all DirectX APIs, and now looks like the company has made a massive breakthrough for the DirectX 9 API in terms of both performance and latency.

In a new released video by Intel Graphics, Intel’s Tom Peterson talks about the improvements made in driver 3953 compared to driver 3490.

Average FPS Up to 1.8X Faster After Driver 3953

Intel Arc GPUs DirectX 9 Improvements
Arc GPU Driver 3953 DX9 Improvements | Source: Intel Graphics

“DirectX 9 is a big API because it’s got some huge legacy titles that everybody is playing” Tom said.

The truth is, when we launched Arc, we were not satisfied with our performance on DX9, we knew that we had work left to do, and the engineers have busy and they have delivered.

Tom Peterson

According to Tom, Intel’s native implementation is going to take advantage of translation layers to make the switch automatically in games between DX9 and newer APIs to offer the user the best possible experience regardless of what API is used.

Intel Arc GPUs DirectX 9 Improvements CS GO
CS: GO Avg FPS After Driver 3953 | Source: Intel Graphics

The improvements made in driver 3953 doesn’t just apply to Intel’s A770, but also A750, A380, as well as notebook designs.

Notable games that benefitted from the big performance update include: CS: GO, League of Legends, and Guild Wars 2 to name a few.

Intel Arc A770 DX9 Performance Update 3953
Arc A770 DX9 Performance | Source: Intel Graphics

“Our drivers don’t just offer more performance, but it is better experience as it is smoother gameplay” Tom said as indicated by the improvements to the 99th percentile FPS which is now 2.3X better than before.

The update did not just improve the average frame-rate, it also improved stuttering in games by stabilizing, improving latency, and reducing the average frame-times, which after the update are a lot more consistent for smoother gameplay.

Intel Arc A770 DX9 Frametime Update 3953
Arc A770 DX9 Frame-times | Source: Intel Graphics

Tom also claimed that Intel is still working on improving the Arc drivers for newer DirectX 12 and Vulkan APIs, but the company wasn’t satisfied with DX9 performance and has been working on that as well.

When we launched (Arc), we made a claim that we were focused on modern APIs DX12 and Vulkan, and none of that has changed.

Tom Peterson

To read more and download the new update visit Intel Blog.

Intel Arc Graphics | DirectX 9 Performance Update