Significant performance degradation in DX9 and DX11 after updating to drivers 6557 and 6559.

[iprigg]

First of all let me clarify that I didn't have any problems/issues until the 6460 driver.  However, after the latest driver updates  (32.0.101.6557 and 6559 which is WHQL also) I expereince a performance degradation of about 20% in  DX9 (framerates have fallen from 210 fps to 170 fps) and somewhat less in DX11 (a drop of 5-10% from 95 fps to 85-90 fps).

My observations are based on the results of passmark's 3D benchmarking tool. Everytime I update to a new driver I run thiese tests to see if everything is OK. And indeed this time after installing either of these drivers (6557 and 6559)  the problem is there. Note that DX9 and DX11 benchmarks are the only ones that are affected whereas other passmark 3D benchmark tests (such as DX10, DX12 and gpu compute) have not been affected at all, either posetively of negatively.

I have tried both clean install of the new drivers and full removal of old one (6460) using ddu before installing the new ones from scratch but the problem persists and this is the case for both 6557 and 6559 versions. The latest driver without this issue is the 6460.

My machine is an  intel core i5 13400 cpu based desktop equiped with Asrock's  intel arc a750 gpu on a Gigabyte B760M DSH DDR4 motherboard (igpu has been disabled from the bios). The system runs windows 11 with all latest updates. Motherboard firmware is also at the latest available version.  Note also that NO performance tuning has been applied to the card through the intel graphics software.

[RandyT_Intel]

Hi iprigg,

Thank you for posting to our community and sharing your findings. I have a few questions to help us investigate further.

• Could you clarify if the performance drops you mentioned are solely based on the 3D benchmarking tool readings?
• Are there any issues with other software or tasks? Additionally, could you provide more recordings or screenshots of your observations to help us see the situation better?

I will provide further insights and a recommendation once I receive more information. Looking forward to your response.

Randy T

Intel Customer Support Technician

[iprigg]

Dear Randy T,

I do not have many games so that I can test them and most of those I have are using DX12 or vulkan anyway, where as I said before performance with the new driver is not affected at all. So regarding your first question the drops I observed in indeed based on Passmark's 3D benchmarks, which as far as I know are widely accepted and respected.

Now regarding  your second question, I can tell with certainty if other software or task have been affected. I have a feeling that some apps like chrome for example freezes a little bit (I mean from the time the windows appears until it becomes active), but it is so insignificant that I didn't noticed it until the time you post this question. Anyway, even if it happens, it is insignificant so don't take it seriously. 

Finally, in response of your third question, I have attached 2 screenshots where you can see the drop in performance in DX9 and DX12 between the 2 drivers (and consequently the overall passmark score has been axed about 800 points - 5%), as well as the respective videos I captured while benchmarking DX9.  For the videos I had to lower the quality in order to reduce them into an acceptable size to post them, but I am sure you can see clearly the huge difference in fps displayed on the upper left corner. Note that the fps display is from passmark itself, and not from an external software which may impact the performance.

I have also attached an image from my system specs, as detected by passmark. GPU as I said is Asrock's arc a750

[RandyT_Intel]

Hi iprigg,

Thank you for answering my questions and providing the additional screenshots of your observations. I appreciate your patience and understanding. Please allow me some additional time to thoroughly review and investigate this issue further. I will get back to you as soon as possible with more information.

Thank you for your patience while I work on this.

Best,

Randy T

Intel Customer Support Technician

[RandyT_Intel]

Hi @iprigg ,

I wanted to reach out and provide you with an update regarding the issue you've been experiencing with your Intel Arc A770 graphics card.

I understand how frustrating it can be to encounter performance issues, and I want to assure you that we take your concerns seriously. After thorough testing, we were able to reproduce the issue even with the recent driver release 32.0.101.6632.

The good news is that our latest internal driver builds show a significant improvement in DX9 performance, bringing it back to normal levels. While we don't have an exact timeline for when this update will be publicly available, please rest assured that we are making progress. As soon as the solution is ready, I will update the thread to keep you informed.

Randy T

Intel Customer Support Technician

[iprigg]

Hi RandyT,

Indeed latest driver 6632 has also the same issues as you say. I have updated to it as soon as it was available and determined so.
However what you say about the upcoming driver are good news indeed.
Also, I do not know if you have checked against DX11 since you didn't mentioned something. I think there is some instability and degradation of fps performance there also, at least as measured by passmark 3D benchmarking. Much smaller than in DX9 though, between 5% to 10% in my case.
Unfortunately, I didn't bother to take a screenshot or video on this, but I remember that using the 6460 driver the corresponding DX11 passmark benchmark was giving me an average between 90 -95 fps while on the newer drivers I experienced more unstable behavior and performance results between 80-90 fps.
I hope the new internal driver to be released in near future copes with this also (6632 did not unfortunately) but in any case I think that checking it beforehand wouldn't be a heavy burden for your team

Eager for the new driver release. It is always good to see problems solved and Intel software and drivers mature

[iprigg]

Hi Randy

Just to comment that performance issues on DX9 and DX11 still persist in latest driver 6647.

[iprigg]

Performance issues on DX9 and DX11 continue in latest driver 101.6651 for my arc A750

[Gabriela_Intel]

Hi,

Just letting you know that there is currently an open bug report for this issue that is currently under investigation. I'll post something here once I have an update on the matter.

Gabriela E.

Intel Customer Support Engineer

[iprigg]

Hi,

Latest  driver 6732 seems to solves the problem, at least for DX9.

For DX11, I remember seeing, in the past, passmark fps values of 95.  Now only 88-90.

[NormanS_Intel]

Hello iprigg,

Thank you for letting us know about your experience with the latest driver 6732. I'm pleased to hear that it has addressed the issue for DX9. As for DX11, please be assured that we are actively looking into this matter with our developers and will keep you informed of any updates. We will share the information in this thread as soon as it becomes available.

Best regards,

Norman S.

Intel Customer Support Engineer

[NormanS_Intel]

Hello iprigg,

I wanted to let you know that a bug sighting has been filed, and we are actively investigating the matter. Please be assured that I will provide updates on our investigation in this thread as soon as they become available.

Best regards,

Norman S.

Intel Customer Support Engineer

[Gabriela_Intel · Accepted solution]

Thanks again for reporting this issue and thank you for your patience.

Our priority is to target the most popular games and apps to focus our efforts on providing a high quality, stable experience for the broadest set of users. We will continue to improve our software performance and compatibility throughout this year and beyond.

While we can’t accommodate your request at this time, please watch this article on our website for any possible changes to this situation.

Gabriela E.

Intel Customer Support Engineer