Intel has revamped (opens in new tab) the way it will ship graphics driver updates to fashionable and legacy processors. The chipmaker has determined to maneuver its sixth to tenth Era processors to a legacy help mannequin.
Underneath the brand new mannequin, Intel will solely present important fixes and safety vulnerabilities for processors from the Skylake to Comet Lake household. That signifies that the aforementioned processors will now not obtain Day 0 sport help updates. The change applies to all of the SKUs within the lineup, together with Core, Atom, Celeron, and Xeon chips. As an alternative, Intel will deploy the software program updates quarterly or when it wants to deal with important points or safety vulnerabilities.
Intel’s eleventh Era Rocket Lake and newer processors would be the solely chips to proceed to get pleasure from Day 0 sport help. Intel expects to launch common updates by means of an ordinary month-to-month cadence.
The Intel Graphics Driver will now pack two drivers in the identical package deal. It will include driver information for Intel’s tenth Era processors and older and driver information for eleventh Era chips and newer. Set up stays the identical: you obtain and run the executable. The executable robotically picks the satisfactory driver to your system, so you do not have to ponder which one to put in.
It is sensible why Intel would drop help for Skylake because the 14nm chips got here out seven years in the past. It appears odd, nevertheless, that Intel would forsake Comet Lake too because the processors are comparatively new and solely debuted two years in the past. Though Intel’s built-in graphics answer has improved tremendously over time, we do not anticipate anybody to make use of an Intel iGPU for severe gaming. In keeping with the most recent Steam {Hardware} Survey (opens in new tab), lower than 2% of Steam customers are gaming on Intel’s UHD Graphics. Intel’s new graphics driver mannequin should not have an effect on most customers because the chipmaker will proceed to supply safety updates. It is simply that the previous iGPUs will not have entry to new video games.
Record of Affected Intel Processors
- tenth Era Intel® Core® processors with Intel® Iris® Plus graphics (Codename Ice Lake)
- tenth Era Intel® Core® processors with Intel® UHD Graphics (Codename Comet Lake)
- ninth Era Intel® Core® processors, associated Pentium®/Celeron® processors, and Intel® Xeon® processors, with Intel® UHD Graphics 630 (Codename Espresso Lake-R)
- eighth Era Intel® Core® processors, associated Pentium®/ Celeron® processors, and Intel® Xeon® processors, with Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 655 and Intel® UHD Graphics 610, 620, 630, P630 (Codename Kaby Lake-R, Espresso Lake)
- Intel Pentium® and Celeron® processor household (Codename Gemini Lake)
- seventh Era Intel® Core® processors, associated Pentium®/Celeron® processors, and Intel® Xeon® processors, with Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 640, 650 and Intel® HD Graphics 610, 615, 620, 630, P630 (Codename Kaby Lake)
- sixth Era Intel® Core®, Intel® Core® M, and associated Pentium® processors with Intel Iris® Graphics 540, Intel® Iris® Graphics 550, Intel® Iris® Professional Graphics 580, and Intel® HD Graphics 510, 515, 520, 530 (Codename Skylake)
- Intel® Pentium® Processor household and Intel® Celeron® Processor household (Codename Jasper Lake),
- Intel® Core® Processor with Intel® Hybrid Know-how (Codename Lakefield)
- Intel® Atom®, Pentium® and Celeron® processor household (Codename Elkhart Lake)
