Intel might slow down the driver updates for integrated graphics on the previous-gen processors, as the company just released a dedicated GPU driver for 11th to 14th gen CPUs.
Intel Rolls Out Graphics Driver 32.0.101.7076 for 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen Processor Graphics, Indicating a Split From Regular GPU Driver Updates for Arc and Core Ultra Graphics
The GPU drivers for Intel iGPU and dGPU are usually rolled out for several Intel CPU families and dGPUs. This includes the previous-gen Intel 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th gen processors, as well as can be seen from the supported processor and dGPU list for the Arc & Iris Xe Graphics driver version 32.0.101.7029. While it has hardly been four years since the launch of 11th-gen, aka Rocket Lake, processors, it seems that Intel will be slowing down the iGPU driver updates for this series.
That said, the much newer Intel Raptor Lake Refresh is apparently included with these previous-gen series as well, indicating that Intel might be splitting the iGPU driver updates for these CPUs from the current-gen Core Ultra series and Arc GPUs. As reported by Videocardz, Intel has released a dedicated iGPU driver , 32.0.101.7076, for Intel 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th gen Processor Graphics as well as the Iris Xe dGPU family. Usually, Intel releases a driver update under "Intel Arc & Iris Xe Graphics", but this one explicitly says "Intel 11th-14th Gen Processor Graphics" and doesn't include the Arc iGPU/dGPU.
This indicates that Intel may release different drivers for the UHD and Iris Graphics from now on, and will have a special branch reserved for the Core Ultra series and Arc dGPUs. Unlike AMD and NVIDIA, Intel doesn't offer regular updates for iGPUs on older processors, and this might be an indication that the 11th-14th gen processors won't be getting as many iGPU updates as the Arc and Core Ultra series. Even though the "Intel Arc & Iris Xe Graphics" traditionally includes the driver updates for the Iris dGPU family, Intel may not release the driver updates for it in the near future in the same branch, and would rather include the update in the newer branch "Intel 11th-14th Gen Processor Graphics".
We don't know how this will affect the performance of iGPUs on 11th-14th gen processors, but since Intel is now more focused on Arc graphics (on both CPUs and dGPUs), Intel may deliver even better Arc drivers than ever before.
Intel Supported Product List for Driver Version: 32.0.101.7076:
- 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processor family (Codename Tiger Lake, Rocket Lake, Tiger Lake-H)
- 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processor family (Codename Alder Lake-S, Alder Lake-H, Alder Lake-P, Alder Lake-U, Alder Lake-HX, Alder Lake-N, Twin Lake)
- 13th Gen Intel® Core™ processor family (Codename Raptor Lake-S, Raptor Lake-HX, Raptor Lake-H, Raptor Lake-P, Raptor Lake-U)
- 14th Gen Intel® Core™ processor family (Codename Raptor Lake-S Refresh, Raptor Lake-H Refresh, Raptor Lake-U Refresh)
- Intel® Iris® Xe Dedicated Graphics family (Codename DG1)
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