Intel's latest Arc Graphics driver officially adds gaming support for the new Arc Pro B70

Although Intel's 'Big Battlemage' graphics card hasn't arrived in PC gaming form, the latest Intel Graphics Driver 32.0.101.8629 (WHQL Certified) has added official 'Gaming Support' for the new Intel Arc Pro B70. This workstation GPU, which recently launched, includes the chip that could have powered an Intel Arc B770 GPU, complementing the mainstream-focused Intel Arc B580 GPU, which is now a couple of years old.

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With 32 Xe Cores and 32GB of GDDR6 memory, the new Intel Arc Pro B70 (starting at $949 USD) is an AI-focused GPU designed to offer a more affordable inference solution for AI enthusiasts. However, as its BMG-G31 die also includes ray-tracing capabilities and other gaming-focused technologies, it's also a capable PC gaming option. And with that, it makes sense that the latest 'Game On Graphics Driver' for Arc Graphics has added official Gaming Support for the new Intel Arc Pro B70 and Intel Arc Pro B65 GPUs.

Of course, this isn't to say that the Intel Arc Pro B70 is now a viable option for PC gamers, as its design, cooling, and pricing sit in the AI workstation tier, where hardware costs are significantly higher than those of gaming components. That said, we do have a general idea of how the Intel Arc Pro B70 performs during gaming workloads, so it's a shame that we're not getting an official 'Big Battlemage' gaming option.

According to our previous story, a hypothetical Intel Arc Pro B770 would be around 45-50% faster than the current mainstream Intel Arc B580. As for the rest of the Intel Graphics Driver 32.0.101.8629 (WHQL Certified) release, there's nothing apart from an updated list of Known Issues the company still has to resolve.

Intel Graphics Driver 32.0.101.8629 (WHQL Certified) Release Notes

Highlights:

• Introducing Gaming Support for Intel Arc Pro B70, and Intel Arc Pro B65 Discrete GPUs.

Known Issues:

Intel Core Ultra Series 3 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• The Finals (DX12) may experience an intermittent application crash.
• No Man's Sky (VK) may exhibit corruptions on certain terrains during gameplay.
• Star Citizen (VK) may experience an application crash on game launch.
• Mafia: The Old Country (DX12) may experience an application crash during gameplay.
• Adobe Premiere Pro may experience an application crash when exporting HEVC codec based media on Microsoft Windows OS 26200.7840 or later

Intel Arc B-Series Graphics Products:

• Call of Duty Black Ops 6 (DX12) may exhibit intermittent corruptions on certain water surfaces during gameplay.
• Dune: Awakening (DX12) may exhibit flickering corruptions during gameplay.
• Star Citizen (VK) may experience an application crash on game launch.
• PugetBench for Davinci Resolve Studio may experience an intermittent application crash while running the benchmark. Recommendation is to change the timeout slider to 1500 seconds or higher, to wait for each test to complete, in PugetBench benchmark settings.

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

• PugetBench for Davinci Resolve Studio may experience an intermittent application crash while running the benchmark. Recommendation is to change the timeout slider to 1500 seconds or higher, to wait for each test to complete, in PugetBench benchmark settings.

Intel Core Ultra Series 1 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• Battlefield 6 (DX12) may exhibit intermittent corruptions on certain maps during gameplay.

Intel Core Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• Call of Duty Black Ops 6 (DX12) may exhibit intermittent corruptions on certain water surfaces during gameplay.
• Battlefield 6 (DX12) may exhibit intermittent corruptions on certain maps during gameplay on some notebooks with Intel Core Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs.
• No Man's Sky (VK) may exhibit corruptions on certain terrains during gameplay.