Iris Xe unable to run FPS games

[KC11]

I recently bought a new laptop with Iris Xe Graphics and almost always experience intense lagging and freezing on FPS games like CS2 and Valorant (both with the lowest graphic settings) with the FPS dropping to single digits and peaking at around 20-30. Weirdly, it performs better on battery mode compared to when it is charging, although I have tried to configure my battery settings with no signs of improvement. The only time when I experience better FPS (around 50-60) is when I open the game for the first few minutes.

The laptop is a HP Laptop 15.6 inch 15-fd0059TU with the following specs:

• Intel® Core™ i5-1335U
• Windows 11 
• 16 GB RAM (2*8 gb)
• 512 GB SSD storage
• Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics

From what it shows on the task manager there doesn't seem to be any bottlenecks as well as the usage is usually lower than 30% for GPU and around 40-60% for CPU. Power mode is set to balanced (as it seems to be the only option shown), latest updates installed and test passed using Intel Processor Diagnostic tool.

For now I think I'll stick with my old laptop which has a AMD Ryzen 5 3500U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx and  can run both games normally.  

Anyone have any advice or suggestions on how this can be solved? I would hate to think that I threw 3k down the drain : (

[Alberto_R_Intel]

KC11, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.

We are sorry to hear about this issue and we will be more than glad to assist you with this matter. 

In order for us to answer your questions and provide the most accurate assistance on this scenario, we just wanted to confirm a few details about your system:

You mentioned you recently bought the laptop, when did you purchase it?

Did the games CS2 and Valorant ever work fine before on this specific machine?

If yes, when did the issue start?

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes, besides installing the updates, that might cause this problem?

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment?

Please attach the SSU report so we can verify further details about the components in your platform, check all the options in the report including the one that says "3rd party software logs":

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057926/memory-and-storage.html

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KC11]

The laptop was bought on September 27 and so far both of the mentioned games encountered these issues from the start. Other than than what was mentioned above, the only other software change applied was whitelisting Valorant & its Vanguard in Windows Firewall. This problem happened at home. 

Here's the SSU report you requested: 

[Alberto_R_Intel]

KC11, Thank you very much for providing that information and the SSU report.

Based on the information shown in the SSU report, the graphics driver version currently installed on your computer is 31.0.101.3689.

For this scenario, it is important to mention that it is always recommended to install the graphics driver provided by the manufacturer of the computer/board, since that driver was customized by them to work with your specific platform.

I looked on HP's website and the latest graphics driver version they have available is 31.0.101.4146 Rev.B. Please try a clean installation of that driver following the instructions in the links below:

https://support.hp.com/ca-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-15.6-inch-laptop-pc-15-fd0000/2101497658/model/2101497704/swItemId/ob-318365-1?sku=7Z8E0PA

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057389/graphics.html

If the issue persists after that, then please try a clean installation, this time of our latest graphics driver version 31.0.101.4887:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/785597/intel-arc-iris-xe-graphics-windows.html?wapkw=arc

We also suggest to get in contact directly with HP support to make sure the latest BIOS version is currently installed in your machine or, to gather the instructions on how to update it:

https://support.hp.com/us-en

Once you get the chance please let us know the results of trying the suggestion above.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KC11]

Hi Albert,

I've tried out the solutions you suggested and while both did not resolve the issue, the 31.0.101.4146 Rev.B by HP seemed to show slight improvements for a few minutes while Intel's graphics driver version 31.0.101.4887 showed more lag and sometimes zoomed in when launching CS2. 

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hi KC11, Thank you very much for sharing those results.

We are sorry to hear the issue with the games remains after trying the troubleshooting steps suggested previously.

Based on that, I will do further research on this matter to try to find a possible solution for this scenario. As soon as I get any updates, I will post all the details on this thread.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello KC11, I just received an update on this matter.

After reviewing the case, based on the fact that the issue is happening with two different games, could you please open a new thread in reference to the Valorant problem?

In this specific case, we will try to replicate the issue with CS2 in our Intel® lab to confirm if the behavior is the same as you described on this forum. As soon as I get the results of testing CS2, I will post all the information on this thread.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KC11]

Hi Albert,

I have brought up this issue with Valorant earlier and have tried out the solutions they helpfully suggested such as configuring network settings, doing a clean reboot, whitelisting the application & reinstall action.

This is the link to the thread:
https://support-valorant.riotgames.com/hc/en-us/requests/93331349

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hi KC11, Thank you very much for sharing those details.

Perfect, that is great to know. Still, we advise, if you have the chance, to open another thread with Intel®, just like the one we are currently using but just about the issues with Valorant, so we can try to replicate the issue on our Intel® lab.

As soon as I get any updates about the tests we are performing with CS2, I will provide all the results on this thread.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KC11]

Hi Albert, 

Here's the link to the thread you recommended to open: https://community.intel.com/t5/Graphics/Iris-Xe-problems-on-Valorant/m-p/1533765#M123675  .

Many thanks for your help so far by the way.

[Jose_Intel]

Hello KC11

Thank you for working with us.

We are still working internally, any update will be posted here.

Best regards,

Jose B.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello KC11, I just received an update on this matter.

After trying to replicate the issue on our Intel® lab, we can confirm that the game is working fine, the issue was not replicated, and we were able to play CSGO without any issues. Based on that, what we recommend to do next, will be to get in contact directly with the game developer for additional suggestions and further technical assistance on this subject.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[maple2]

Are you sure the Iris Xe profile is active and its not under UHD only ? I had similar fps measures as yours when I was only under UHD. After installing more RAM and fully utilizing Iris Xe with i5-1340p I get Valorant FPS peaks at around 100 and drops no lower than 60-65.

I think your CPU supports the ARC update from 24.Jan.2024, you could try it - https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/785597/intel-arc-iris-xe-graphics-windows.html

And don't do balanced on power mode for games.. all settings on high-performance even in the Intel Command Center Driver Utility, find the power saving options and set em to lowest or off even.