Summary
- Intel’s new driver for Lunar Lake chips boosts performance by 10% on average and 25% in 99th percentile frame rates.
- The driver is currently available for Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ through Intel’s graphics software version 32.0.101.6734 or newer.
- Intel focused on power management for the new driver update, showcasing significant improvements particularly in lighter games.
Based on our testing, the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is already the fastest Windows handheld you can buy, and it’s set to get even faster. Intel is rolling out a new driver for the integrated Arc graphics on its Lunar Lake chips, covering the Arc 140V and 130V integrated GPUs that are part of devices like the Claw 8 AI+. In Intel’s testing, it says you can expect an average of 10% higher performance across games, as well as 25% better 99th percentile frame rates, which is a massive jump for just a driver update.
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The performance gains are impressive
Above, you can see the various games Intel tested with the latest driver. Intel is using the Claw 8 AI+ here, which is set to the 17W manual power profile. And the jumps are huge. There are some small leaps of a few frames in demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy, but lighter titles like Fortnite and Payday 3 see massive improvements with the latest driver. Even in games where there isn’t a large average improvement, the 99th percentile frame rates are better; God of War Ragnorak is a good example of that.
The new driver is available now, but only for the Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+. You’ll be able to get it through Intel’s graphics software (32.0.101.6734 or newer), so you can jump in to test out the performance improvements now. Although Intel is focused on MSI’s Claw range right now, the new driver will roll out for other Lunar Lake systems in the future. Intel says it’ll be enabled by vendors “over the coming months,” so keep an eye out for an update if you’re using a Lunar Lake laptop.
Intel’s graphics software started out in rough shape a few years back, but recent desktop releases like the Arc B580 show that Team Blue finally has its footing. After squashing the high-level bugs, Intel turned its attention to performance improvements, and we’ve seen dozens of new drivers that deliver just that. For this driver update, Intel says it focused on power management. We don’t have the gory details, but based on the 17W TDP it used for testing, it looks like Intel found a better sweet spot for performance and power.
