Frequently Asked Questions

[sentientSpark_Intel]

How do we download the Latest Graphics Driver for use with Intel® GPA?

When using Intel® GPA, using the latest version of the graphics drivers ensures that you are getting the most accurate metrics when analyzing and optimizing your game or graphics-intensive application.

For Intel graphics cards, go to the Drivers and Software page. You can either:

• Select your driver manually based on your specific graphics platform or chipset, or
• On Intel-based systems with Intel Processor Graphics, you can click the Get Started button to detect your driver and auto-detect the proper driver to install.  

For non-Intel graphics, check with the vendor of your graphics card for the latest drivers.

You may also benefit by downloading the latest BIOS for your system -- check with your system vendor to see if you have a current BIOS for your system.

For more information regarding installation, configuration, and usage of the Intel® GPA product, visit

• the Intel® GPA home page
• the Intel® GPA Developer Reference for Windows*
• the Intel® GPA Training page.
  
  * Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

What happened to Wireframe Mode

Regarding any questions about "the missing wireframe" option. It's not gone. It's just no longer available in live analysis.

We had to remove that option from live analysis because of folks using it nefariously. As of GPA release 2021.2 we removed it from the HUD, but it is still available in GPA's Graphics Frame Analyzer for static analysis.

Why was Intel GPA Discontinued?

Unfortunately, we can't share much in this regard surrounding the internal decisions that were made. But we are very proud of this tool and the multi-platform success that it has had among graphics enthusiasts and developers. It was and we believe still is the top-of-class DX11 frame analysis tool. It is with great regret that we must share this end-of-life announcement.

Why do we want GPA to support AMD and NVIDIA?

We want to sell more Intel hardware. Really.

The more you optimize your game, the more platforms you can target.  That's a win-win for you and us (Game Devs, Intel and the GPA team). We spend time and effort testing games on competing hardware so you can use GPA anywhere. If you capture and play back on competing hardware, you won't see all the GPU data because we (meaning GPA utilities) don't have access to it. BUT, most of the time* you can capture on that competing hardware, and play back (open your frames) on the integrated GPU (in Graphics Frame Analyzer multi-frame view - select your desired playback GPU on the upper left). If that integrated, or onboard, GPU is Intel, then you have access to all the hardware counters - potentially 1000's of data elements. You can do a lot with just EU Stall, EU Active and EU Thread Occupancy. But there is tons of other information that you will have access to if you analyze your frames on Intel hardware.

* Not "all the time" because we can't guarantee GPA will support all competing hardware platforms.

Cheers, and Happy Profiling