Info Intel ARC owners thread. 71 games tested, retested, and counting. Includes productivity experiences. Feel free to add your results.

DAPUNISHER · Jun 2, 2024

Here in the U.S. the ARC A310 price is too close to the A380 to make sense. Given you get 2GB more vram and better ultra budget gaming with the A380 which goes on sale for $99 every couple of months. The tiny single slot Sparkle can fill a niche but I have read the fan is terrible on it, and can't be controlled.

But here is where the surprising thing happens. It is better than the GTX 1630. I know it is a pretty low bar to clear, but even still, $99 vs $135 makes it kind of impressive. Better media features, hardware upscaling, handles new games better.

Tech Junky · Jul 1, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
Sparkle can fill a niche but I have read the fan is terrible on it, and can't be controlled.

I don't even hear it when it's processing conversions at full tilt. Now, when it wasn't seated correctly and the fan hit 100% with the case open it was quite apparent. I think a combo of the case/fans/firmware/codec make a difference. I've got it dialed in on my AMD setup to the point where the GPU engaged less than 2 CPU cores using QSV. Default though it would use 6-8 cores depending on the source file/codec.

I can't speak to the gaming aspect though which might spin things up moreso than converting video files.

DAPUNISHER · Jul 2, 2024

Tech Junky said:
I don't even hear it when it's processing conversions at full tilt. Now, when it wasn't seated correctly and the fan hit 100% with the case open it was quite apparent. I think a combo of the case/fans/firmware/codec make a difference. I've got it dialed in on my AMD setup to the point where the GPU engaged less than 2 CPU cores using QSV. Default though it would use 6-8 cores depending on the source file/codec.

I can't speak to the gaming aspect though which might spin things up more so than converting video files.

Thanks for the hands on feedback, that's good info for anyone with a similar use case. Most of the fan noise complaints were user reviews on Newegg. A few on r/IntelArc.

Tech Junky · Jul 2, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
Thanks for the hands on feedback, that's good info for anyone with a similar use case. Most of the fan noise complaints were user reviews on Newegg. A few on r/IntelArc.

I don't get what people are doing that makes their system so loud. Decent case and keeping the system cool with multiple fans that are able to run at lower RPMs. It's not rocket science it's just moving air properly instead of relying on what ships with the case / cooler. Of course the driver version you're suing makes a difference as well. The difference though between the A3xx/5xx/7xx shouldn't be that much different from a design stand point to make them sound like you're in the path of an airport though. If they're loud then there's something to be looked at like pulling the heat sink and checking the paste and/or replacing it w/ a graphite pad instead. Sometimes though there's a lemon in production and the fan just needs to be replaced.

There's been a couple of mentions recently of open air systems running even dual RTX 4's and staying at ambient temps so.... I would think it's a design issue of how they're building their systems and not giving it enough room to breathe properly. The only time I really had any noise issues with any system was when I was mining and had to do some fan control to find a balance between temps / productivity. IIRC setting the fans on the GPUs to ~70% was the best option.

Then again I can envision people putting their ear on the case and listening for something to B about. "Normal" use though should drown out the sounds unless something else is wrong and ramping up the fans.

DAPUNISHER · Jul 2, 2024

No argument here. PEBCAK/PINIC is the by far the leading cause of most PC issues.

On another topic. I have not updated the games list as my wife has been using that system as her daily driver the last 6 weeks. It has been rock solid in that capacity. They finally got her a new work laptop so I will swap in a different nvme and get some more games tested, hopefully next week.

Tech Junky · Jul 2, 2024

ID-10-T but yeah.... I suppose the other issue is being a teenager and having supersonic hearing. Not to mention not having anything else to do but focus on their precious.

I've been in this game back to the days of RAM being sold by the MB and consoles only being things like Atari. Back when the internet was text based and very very very slow.

There's a reason my "ignore" button gets used so much on forums. When you filter the noise it gets pretty quiet and manageable to actually pick up on threads that are worthwhile. I don't bother reporting the spam / bots anymore as it's pointless and there's always another one waiting to post.

I guess the point here is to manage expectations and respond accordingly. If you want silence then put a passive cooler on the damned thing or stick it in a eGPU box to kill the acoustics. Off the shelf and into your system isn't usually going to be the most efficient HW can be and meet your expectations.

DAPUNISHER · Jul 10, 2024

Latest beta drivers have good news for Diablo IV players -

Game performance improvements on Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products versus Intel 31.0.101.5594 software driver for:
Diablo IV (DX12)

Up to 30% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ray Tracing Ultra settings
Up to 35% average FPS uplift at 1440p with Ray Tracing Ultra settings

DAPUNISHER · Jul 11, 2024

Damn! Tim tested 250 games on the A770 LE with a 7800X3D system. TLDW - for the criteria he chose 218 games passed in every category. He is undoubtedly establishing a database for Gandalf/BM comparisons later.

He could not test 250 games long enough to expose all issue of course. One example: I had to get to the first village in Tomb Raider 2013 to encounter performance problems where it had drops well below a locked 60 at 1080 (my criteria), which DXVK fixed.

Props to Tim!

igor_kavinski · Jul 11, 2024

That's some serious dedication to the profession of reviewing PC hardware right there!

Intel, you pay this guy NOW!

DAPUNISHER · Aug 12, 2024

They must have most of the team working on battle mage drivers now because performance in the newest games is not looking so good compared to the competition.

Hitman928 · Aug 12, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
They must have most of the team working on battle mage drivers now because performance in the newest games is not looking so good compared to the competition.

That’s disappointingly understandable. Will still hurt their reputation if people have to fear losing good driver support if not on the latest generation.

igor_kavinski · Aug 12, 2024

I hope they don't layoff any more driver writers. They have fewer of those as is.

Aapje · Aug 12, 2024

It is something I was expecting. With the major hardware issues in Alchemist, it seems unlikely that they will keep making fixes just to make games work on that, when that doesn't translate to Battlemage performance.

stevty2889 · Sep 3, 2024

My ARC 770 build - because why not?

i5 12600K
Asrock Z690 Gaming Phantom 4
16GB Corsair DDR4-3600
Asrock ARC 770
1TB Crucial MX500 SSD
2x 4TB Seagate HDD's
1080P Monitor

Have only runs some built in benchmarks on a couple older games so far.
.
Ashes of Singularity Escalation: 1080P High settings, 87.4 FPS average, 96.7% GPU Bound

Total War: Warrhammer 2: 1080P Ultra settings
Battle Benchmark: 114.1 FPS, 84 min
Campaign benchmark: 102.3 FPS, 81 min
Skaven benchmark: 81.1 FPS, 41 min

Distant Worlds Universe - Setup a game to run fully automated. Ran for ~2.5 hours at 4X speed with no issue.

DAPUNISHER · Sep 3, 2024

@stevty2889

Is it okay if I add your game results to the OP?

My wife is using the A750 build as her daily driver now, so I can't test with it anymore. It has been rock solid and hassle free in that use case which speaks to how far the software side has come.

I saw MicroCenter has a bundled 12600kf+16GB DDR4 3200+Z790+Sparkle A770 for $450. Solid deal.

stevty2889 · Sep 4, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
@stevty2889

Is it okay if I add your game results to the OP?

My wife is using the A750 build as her daily driver now, so I can't test with it anymore. It has been rock solid and hassle free in that use case which speaks to how far the software side has come.

I saw MicroCenter has a bundled 12600kf+16GB DDR4 3200+Z790+Sparkle A770 for $450. Solid deal.

Sure go for it!

stevty2889 · Sep 5, 2024

Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries. Played through the tutorial missions with no issues, ran smooth and didn't have to tweak any settings.

Hulk · Sep 9, 2024

I have been away from my main rig for the summer. Just got back and updated latest ARC graphics driver and latest Topaz Video AI update. Happily it looks like most, if not all, of the models are working. I haven't tried them all but so far I have tried Artemis HG, Theia Fidelity, Iris LQ v2, Nyx, and Proteus and they are all working as expected.
This is good!

Hitman928 · Oct 4, 2024

JT did an budget laptop GPU comparison between Intel and NV solutions. Long story short, Intel is pretty competitive in average FPS but has some major issues in frame consistency and 1% lows at native. Using upscaling helps the lows, but in most cases, NV could run native without issue. Lack of XESS in multiple games also is a negative, though FSR helps mitigate that issue.

DAPUNISHER · Oct 4, 2024

JT's results would make ARC look even worse if he started visiting old games most of us have in our libraries. Drivers came a long ways, but I still found DXVK superior for gaming experience. Average and max fps mean nothing if frame pacing is bad.

I have not seen Gandalf/BM tested in old games yet, have any of you?

Hitman928 · Oct 4, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
JT's results would make ARC look even worse if he started visiting old games most of us have in our libraries. Drivers came a long ways, but I still found DXVK superior for gaming experience. Average and max fps mean nothing if frame pacing is bad.

I have not seen Gandalf/BM tested in old games yet, have any of you?

Define old.

DAPUNISHER · Oct 4, 2024

Hitman928 said:
Define old.

Anything DX11 or older is a crapshoot as to whether it will run smoothly or need DXVK. Some of the old Fallout, FarCry, Assassins Creed, Arkham, Call of Duty, Tomb Raider, still needed DXVK last time I tested them. The newer drivers improved things greatly, but DXVK was the only way to stop frame pacing issues. In the case of Arkham Knight, I think the game still does not even launch.

The only DX8.1 game I testd, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down would not run regardless of what I tried.

igor_kavinski · Oct 4, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
The only DX8.1 game I testd, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down would not run regardless of what I tried.

I would try it in VirtualBox or VMplayer with the experimental 3D. One shouldn't have to but that should work I think because these emulators support DX9 AFAIK.

TBH, it should be Microsoft's responsibility to make sure legacy DirectX works flawlessly on Windows, even if they have to create some emulation layer for it, like a Microsoft branded virtual graphics adapter with up to DX11 support that accelerates as much of the legacy API calls as possible through working with the GPU's driver and emulates the rest in software.

Hitman928 · Oct 4, 2024

DAPUNISHER said:
Anything DX11 or older is a crapshoot as to whether it will run smoothly or need DXVK. Some of the old Fallout, FarCry, Assassins Creed, Arkham, Call of Duty, Tomb Raider, still needed DXVK last time I tested them. The newer drivers improved things greatly, but DXVK was the only way to stop frame pacing issues. In the case of Arkham Knight, I think the game still does not even launch.

The only DX8.1 game I testd, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down would not run regardless of what I tried.

Nope, haven’t seen any such tests.

DAPUNISHER · Oct 4, 2024

igor_kavinski said:
I would try it in VirtualBox or VMplayer with the experimental 3D. One shouldn't have to but that should work I think because these emulators support DX9 AFAIK.

TBH, it should be Microsoft's responsibility to make sure legacy DirectX works flawlessly on Windows, even if they have to create some emulation layer for it, like a Microsoft branded virtual graphics adapter with up to DX11 support that accelerates as much of the legacy API calls as possible through working with the GPU's driver and emulates the rest in software.

Arkham Knight is fixed with DXVK.

Black Hawk Down I play on AMD or Nvidia no issues other than it's a PITA on desired resolutions. It starts by detecting your GPU then running tests through 1280x1024 and providing the results. That's where ARC fails and the game crashes. I tried editing the .cfg but it doesn't take. I used uniws which sort of works on AMD but it's a janky solution at best. It's an The Way It's Meant To Be Played title, so I'll try it on GTX 1080 next. If it allows me to pick my default res it'll be a LOL moment.

As to ARC: Performance in the latest games is mostly bad. Battle mage needs to get the bang for buck back on track.

Info Intel ARC owners thread. 71 games tested, retested, and counting. Includes productivity experiences. Feel free to add your results.

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