The launch of the Intel Arc Alchemist graphics cards generated a lot of interest, and the truth is that in the end they met expectations quite well in raw performance, both in rasterization and with ray tracing enabled, but all the new generation of Intel had serious performance problems with games under DirectX 9.
Some may tell me that this is not important because we are talking about an outdated API that nobody cares about, but the reality is totally different. This API is used by games that move millions of players, and who continue to have an important presence in international championships. I could give you many examples, but without a doubt the most prominent are Counter Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Lost Ark, Guild Wars 2 (it also supports DirectX 11) and Half-Life 2.
Intel itself recognized the problem that Arc Alchemist graphics cards had with old APIs (DirectX 11 and DirectX 9), and promised to improve this situation in future drivers. He didn’t give a specific date, but we knew he was going to work at a fast pace to release new drivers that would put them in a more competitive position against their direct rivals, the GeForce RTX 3060 and Radeon RX 6600, and today we can finally give you good news. news with the release of the 4086 drivers.
These new drivers, which are available today, have greatly improved performance in DirectX 9-based games. As we can see in the attached graph, the performance difference between 3490 and 4086 drivers It is very large, although the jump that has occurred in Half-Life 2, where Intel has been close to doubling the average frame rate per second, is especially notable.
In the second graph we have the average normalized values, and we find ua performance improvement of between 10% and 77%. The numbers speak for themselves. The “99% percentile” performance values have also improved significantly, and doubled the results obtained with the 3490 drivers. All of these graphs reflect performance data at 1080p.
If we look at the results in 1440p we also find important improvements performance, especially in games like Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Half-Life 2 and League of Legends. I am also struck by the 1% drop in Guild Wars 2 in the “99% percentile” graph, although it is not a serious problem since on average its performance has improved by 15% under that resolution.
Making a general balance, we make it clear that the new drivers mimprove, on average, 43% performance in DirectX 9 games using an Intel Arc Alchemist A750, and the “99% percentile” rate at 60%, which means that we will not only enjoy a higher frame rate per second, but it will also be much more stable (the minimum peaks will be more elevated).
The Intel Arc Alchemist A750 drops in price
The chip giant has also confirmed other important details taking advantage of the launch of these new drivers. One of the most important has been the drop in price of the Intel Arc Alchemist A750a very interesting graphics card, since it plays in the same league as the GeForce RTX 3060 under rasterization, and that it surpasses the Radeon RX 6000 in ray tracing.
Its launch price was $289, and from now on will be available for $249 (taxes not included). In Spain its price is 379.99 euros, taxes included. If a similar price reduction is applied, we can expect it to end up in the range of 330 euros, a price that would make it a very competitive solution, and highly recommended.
Finally, Intel has highlighted the efforts it is making to support some of the most important games that exist today, and has commented that Intel XeSS technology is already It is supported in more than 35 games, a number that will continue to grow throughout 2023. This will be instrumental in making the value of your graphics cards ever more competitive, and in demonstrating to the world that such intelligent upscaling technology really does make a difference.
