Intel Releases Dedicated Graphics Driver for 11th to 14th Gen Processors
Intel seems to have modified its attitude toward integrated graphics driver updates with this new dedicated driver for its 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th-generation processors. By this action, we may be witnessing a splitting off from the unified driver that also supports the new Arc and Core Ultra graphics, which may lead to fewer updates for these previous-gen CPUs.
Key Changes in Driver Release
Usually, Intel packages driver updates for integrated (iGPU) and discrete (dGPU) graphics under one "Intel Arc & Iris Xe Graphics" package. The previous version, 32.0.101.7029, supported a vast range of hardware.
The new driver under 32.0.101.7076 is specifically entitled "Intel 11th-14th Gen Processor Graphics." It does not support the latest Arc and Core Ultra graphics products, showing a new, separate development branch for older hardware.
Possible Future Implication Regarding Updates
That separation could mean that Intel will thus maintain different driver branches: one for its modern Arc and Core Ultra series and another for the UHD and Iris Xe graphics in 11th-14th Gen CPUs. While it's not been confirmed, this could potentially mean fewer and less frequent iGPU performance and feature updates for these processors.
These changes could also allow Intel to direct more resources to optimizing drivers for its Arc graphics architecture, resulting in further significant improvement for Arc dGPUs and Core Ultra CPUs. The effects on the performance of the iGPU in the 11th to 14th Gen processors remains to be seen.
Supported Processor Families for Driver 32.0.101.7076
The new dedicated driver supports the following Intel processor and graphics families:
- 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors (Codename Tiger Lake, Rocket Lake, Tiger Lake-H)
- 12th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors (Codename Alder Lake-S, Alder Lake-H, Alder Lake-P, Alder Lake-U, Alder Lake-HX, Alder Lake-N)
- 13th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors (Codename Raptor Lake-S, Raptor Lake-HX, Raptor Lake-H, Raptor Lake-P, Raptor Lake-U)
- 14th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors (Codename Raptor Lake-S Refresh, Raptor Lake-H Refresh, Raptor Lake-U Refresh)
- Intel® Iris® Xe Dedicated Graphics (Codename DG1)
