Intel is excited about something that hardcore players could see as ridicule: Intel is working on a new control panel for integrated graphics.
Forget for a moment that there are people who use integrated graphics for gaming (obviously not in a high configuration). What interests me about all this is that we see a renewed focus on graphics in general before the company presents its first discrete GPU next year.
It remains to be seen whether Intel can really compete with Nvidia and AMD, especially in games. However, I am encouraged by what I have seen so far from Intel.
Intel creates a very good ecosystem and updates its graphics drivers once or twice a month, including the drivers that are ready to release certain games. A driver update was released yesterday. There is also a dedicated portal on the Intel website to search for recommended configurations for specific games, tailored for different processors.
I mention this because Intel’s decision to renew its control panel is not so interesting, but it certainly underscores the importance that Intel attaches to graphics and needs it to be competitive in the future.
In this case, Intel wants to make graphics settings intuitive and less confusing “for a billion people”.
“I’m really excited about Intel’s next graphics panel. It’s been designed for PC gamers who are starting out on performance tuning, and we’re planning a beta program so they can help us make all this even better,” says Chris Hook, head of graphics marketing at Intel (who previously had a similar role at AMD).
The new control panel will arrive “soon”, and in response to criticism of the performance of the integrated graphics, Intel realized that “regular driver updates and control panel improvements are the first steps” on a long journey.