PC Games Hardware tested several games on the Intel Arc Alchemist A380 graphics card, the only Arc GPU available for desktops at the time, and found that it works quite well for a new entrant. The website did the test not to compare it to other graphics cards, but also to show how well Intel’s Arc drivers perform on a list of 50 games (old and new).
Intel Arc A380 GPU tested with fifty games over the last two decades to verify practical use in games
While Intel has worked hard to tune its Arc GPU performance on modern APIs such as DX12 and Vulkan, older games using the DX11, DX12, and OpenGL APIs have not received good support thus far.
And for good reason. Intel recently jumped into the graphics card category, where companies like NVIDIA and AMD have been in the market for many years. Intel has worked tirelessly to optimize and fix inconsistencies and bugs in previously released titles over the last few decades.
Lisa Pearce, vice president and general manager of Intel’s Visual Computing Group, stated that Intel is working to “optimize Arc GPU performance” for APIs for DirectX 9 and 11. DirectX 11 and 12 are similar, but the newer API offers more optimizations and fixes not seen in previous versions. The plethora of old titles is great for some gamers as there are award-winning titles that gamers can now try out for themselves. But, with older games, users don’t need powerful graphics cards as the technology is less advanced.
Over a week ago, Intel released a new driver that removed many inconsistencies with its graphics card and control panel support, which was not well accepted in the PC communities. Once again, Intel seems to “catch up” with NVIDIA and AMD regarding their specific GPU technology. Between the assistance of tech community reviews and other feedback, Intel is learning what is required for further compatibility and optimization for the new Arc A380.
Unfortunately, Intel branched out the Arc series drivers, so many system requirements and more are wrong, causing issues such as errors when launching the game. The company must also work directly with game developers to ensure their products work as intended.
In September, Intel is expected to launch Arc A7 graphics, the top-tier graphics series that is anticipated to compete with the other rival companies, NVIDIA and AMD.
