Intel Admits to Performance Issues with Arc GPUs on Older Processors; Investigation Underway

Intel has finally started addressing the issue of performance loss with the Arc GPUs, particularly when paired with older CPUs. They’ve launched an investigation to identify and fix the problem.

Intel’s Reaction to Arc GPU Performance Problems with Outdated Ryzen and Intel Core CPUs

When Intel first introduced the Arc B580 and B570 GPUs, initial impressions were positive, especially since they provided more VRAM than their competitors. However, they quickly fell off the radar, and a big reason for this was the lack of optimizations.

The problem isn’t solely about the Intel GPU drivers. It involves a broader issue that has kept the Arc Battlemage GPUs trailing behind their rivals. If you recall, Hardware Unboxed was among those who first highlighted how poorly the Arc B580 performed when teamed up with older processors like the Ryzen 2000 series and the 9th-generation Intel Core chips.

It’s taken Intel some time to even acknowledge this issue. Fortunately, they have now responded in online forums. Here’s what Intel had to say:

We appreciate your patience. We’re aware of reports indicating performance sensitivity with some games when these GPUs are used with older generation processors. We’ve broadened our platform coverage to include more configurations in our validation process, and we’re actively working on finding optimizations.

From this response, it’s apparent that Intel was aware of the issue but had not prioritized performance optimization. They are now committing to expand optimizations across more configurations, and we can anticipate this problem being addressed soon. Nevertheless, Intel hasn’t provided any specific timeline for when the updates will roll out.

These updates will likely need to occur on the driver side, as the hardware of these GPUs matches up well with competitors in recent titles. There haven’t been any reports of performance throttling in the Arc B580 or B570 GPUs with the latest Intel and AMD CPUs, so the subpar performance with their own older CPUs was quite baffling.

Ideally, the upcoming patches will bolster Intel’s competitive stance against GPU titans like AMD and NVIDIA. However, even if performance improves, it might not equate to gaining a significant foothold in the GPU market. The Intel Arc Battlemage GPUs are scarcely available, and this lack of presence has effectively removed them from the current budget GPU competition.

(Source: Intel)