Intel has announced the rollout of a new driver update for its Arc graphics cards that promises a huge performance boost in various gaming titles. The new Game On driver with version 31.0.101.4885 primarily offers optimal performance for Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Forza Motorsport. Additionally, the company claims up to double-digit gains in terms of performance with Deus Ex: Human Revolution gaining a 119% uplift with GPUs like the Arc A770 and A750.
The new driver update also brings improvement of up to 27% in Resident Evil 4 at 1080p with High ray tracing settings, and 12% in The Last of Us Part 1 at 1080p with Ultra settings. This makes the GPU even more competitive with Nvidia’s latest RTX 4060 and RTX 4060 Ti GPUs.
Notably, the driver update does not have a WHQL certification. What that means is that it may require further testing and likely has not passed the Windows Hardware Lab Kit testing. That doesn’t usually mean much. You’re unlikely to face major issues, but you may spot a few strange bugs.
Here is a list of all the games that receive a performance boost thanks to the latest driver update:
The driver update also brings a number of bug fixes and optimizations for a number of games like Starfield, EA Sports FC 24, Unchartered: Legacy of Thieves Collection, Dying Light 2, and Fortnite. You can get additional information about the driver from the official release notes here.
Intel seems to have excelled in optimizing code for recently released games, all the while persistently refining performance for older titles. Consequently, graphics cards such as the Arc A770 and A750 have seen significant speed improvements compared to their initial launch a year ago. The last driver update, which was launched in August, introduced performance gains of up to 77% in games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Skyrim. Overall, the GPUs were claimed to be 19% faster in DX11 games on average, with 20% smoother 99th-percentile fps.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.