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For better DirectX 12 performance on an Intel Arc GPU, start with the game’s own resolution, render scale and most demanding effects, then test XeSS when the game supports it. Use Intel Graphics Software profiles and telemetry to measure each change. V-Sync, Smart VSync, Smooth Sync and Game Compatibility are display or troubleshooting controls, not universal FPS switches.
No single Arc setting guarantees a gain in every DX12 title. The right result depends on the game, driver, output resolution, display and whether your limit is the GPU, CPU, shader compilation or frame delivery.
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What to change first
Work from the settings that directly reduce the amount of rendering the game must perform. Make one change at a time, replay the same scene or run the same built-in benchmark, and record average FPS and whether frame delivery feels consistent. This approach tells you which option helps your particular game instead of applying a global preset that may have no effect.
- Confirm the current driver and utility. Use the current Intel Graphics Software application for Arc profiles, driver access and monitoring. Intel describes it as the newer software generation with more features than the older Arc Control application. Menu names can vary by release and platform, so verify that a control exists in your installed version.
- Lower the game’s render workload. Test output resolution, render scale and the heaviest quality options exposed by the title. Ray tracing and similarly advanced effects are usually good candidates for an individual test because they can dominate GPU time.
- Enable XeSS if the game offers it. Open the game’s Display or Graphics settings, find its upscaling option and select XeSS. Compare its Quality and Performance choices at the resolution you actually use.
- Validate the result. Use Intel Graphics Software’s live FPS, memory-use, clock-speed, temperature and voltage readouts while repeating the same workload.
These are troubleshooting steps, not Intel-measured universal gains. A lower setting can improve GPU-limited scenes while leaving a CPU-limited scene unchanged, and an upscaler can make the frame rate higher while changing image detail.
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Use Intel Graphics Software rather than assuming Arc Control menus
Intel Graphics Software is the current reference point for Arc settings, per-application profiles and telemetry. A profile can store settings for an individual game, allowing you to avoid changing a global value that affects every title. Open the software, select the game or application profile, make one adjustment, launch the game and then return to the profile to compare the result. Some controls depend on the Arc product, system platform or software version.
Arc Control is an older interface. Intel’s Arc Control information and support pages remain useful when that is the application installed on a legacy setup, but its menu layout should not be presented as the universal path for current Arc drivers. If an option described for Arc Control is missing in Intel Graphics Software, check the installed version and its release notes before assuming the GPU cannot use the feature.
Game settings that directly affect DX12 rendering
Resolution and render scale
Reducing the internal render resolution cuts the number of pixels the GPU shades. If the game separates output resolution from render scale, keep the display output at the monitor’s native mode and lower the internal scale in small steps so you can judge sharpness and performance independently. A change that raises FPS only in GPU-bound scenes is behaving as expected; it will not remove a CPU or simulation bottleneck.
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Test ray tracing first when it is enabled, followed by the game’s other expensive lighting, reflection, volumetric or shadow options. The exact labels differ between games, so do not assume that “Ultra” or one named effect has the same cost in another title. Record the original value, change only one item, and repeat the same route or benchmark.
Texture quality and video memory
Texture quality often affects memory capacity and streaming behavior more than raw shader work. If telemetry shows memory pressure, try the next lower texture tier and watch for reduced stutter or fewer streaming pauses. If memory use is comfortable and the GPU is saturated elsewhere, changing textures may not increase FPS.
Should you turn on XeSS?
XeSS is an in-game upscaling option, not a driver-wide switch. Intel’s guidance is to open a supported game’s display or graphics settings, find its upscaling options and select “XeSS.” Support can change as games receive updates, so the option may be absent even on an Arc system.
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| XeSS choice | What you trade | How to test |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | More reconstructed image detail and a smaller performance gain than aggressive modes | Use when native-like clarity is more important than the highest frame rate; compare distant geometry, foliage and fine text. |
| Balanced or intermediate mode | A middle point between clarity and GPU workload | Use only if the game provides it; compare the same camera movement at your target output resolution. |
| Performance | Lower internal resolution, potentially more performance and a greater image-quality cost | Consider for demanding resolutions or effects, then check for shimmering, softness and reconstruction artifacts. |
Intel’s XeSS material describes Quality modes as preserving more image quality with less performance benefit, while more aggressive Performance modes can deliver more performance at a greater image-quality cost. There is no best mode for every Arc GPU, game or monitor. Judge both frame rate and image stability at the output resolution you intend to play.
Measure changes with profiles and telemetry
Intel Graphics Software provides live readouts for FPS, memory use, clock speed, temperature and voltage. Use a repeatable test: the same built-in benchmark, save point, race lap or traversal route, at the same resolution and graphics preset. Capture a baseline before changing anything, then alter one setting and repeat.
- Average FPS: useful for overall throughput, but it can hide hitching.
- Frame-time consistency: important when the game feels uneven despite a high average FPS. Look for repeatable pauses or spikes during the same scene.
- GPU utilization: high utilization with low FPS suggests a rendering bottleneck; low utilization can point to CPU limits, synchronization, streaming or a game-specific issue.
- Temperature and clocks: help identify thermal or power behavior that changes during a long run.
- Memory use: helps decide whether texture or streaming settings deserve attention.
The available telemetry does not constitute a controlled benchmark for every Arc model. Treat it as a way to compare your own system, not as proof of a guaranteed percentage improvement.
Do V-Sync, Smart VSync or Smooth Sync increase FPS?
These controls govern synchronization and the appearance of tearing. They do not inherently make the GPU render more frames. Choose among them for the behavior you want on your display, then evaluate performance separately.
| Option | Documented behavior | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Application Choice | V-Sync follows the game’s own graphics setting. | You want the title, rather than the driver utility, to control synchronization. |
| Smart VSync | Intel says it enables V-Sync when the application render rate exceeds the display refresh rate and disables V-Sync when the render rate falls below it. | You are troubleshooting the relationship between render rate and refresh rate and prefer automatic switching. |
| Smooth Sync | Intel describes a dithering filter that blurs distracting tearing. | Your display lacks VESA Adaptive-Sync support and tearing is more objectionable than a filtered image. |
If your monitor supports variable refresh rate (VRR), distinguish that display capability from the game’s render rate. A synchronization choice can change latency, tearing or perceived smoothness even when the GPU’s rendering workload is unchanged. Test it with the same in-game settings and keep the option that fits your display and latency preference.
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When to use Game Compatibility
Intel’s Game Compatibility feature is aimed at tested, game-specific problems, especially functional issues such as crashes or visual corruption. Intel describes Recommended, Basic and Advanced levels that represent increasing solution complexity and warns that applied changes may affect performance. It is not a global “faster DX12” mode.
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| Level | Appropriate use | Precaution |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended | Start here when Intel identifies a tested solution for the affected game. | Record the original state before applying it. |
| Basic | Use when the specific issue remains and Intel documents a basic adjustment. | Retest the original symptom and your normal benchmark. |
| Advanced | Reserve for a documented problem that requires the more complex solution. | Change it only for that title; performance can change. |
Apply compatibility changes one at a time. If a crash disappears but FPS or frame pacing worsens, revert the setting and check Intel’s current guidance for a newer driver or a different solution.
Check driver notes before applying a DX12 workaround
DX12 behavior can be specific to one game and one driver release. Intel’s support documentation includes an Apex Legends case involving low GPU usage and low FPS with Resizable BAR enabled, along with a launch-option workaround. That instruction is for the reported Apex Legends condition; it is not a general Arc or DX12 tweak and should not be copied to unrelated games.
Intel’s driver notes dated May 13, 2026 also listed an Apex Legends DX12 corruption issue. Such notes can be superseded by later releases. Before changing a launch option, Resizable BAR setting or compatibility control:
- Read the current driver’s known issues and fixed-issues list.
- Check the game’s own support or patch notes for the same symptom.
- Write down the existing setting so you can restore it.
- Test the workaround only in the named game and reproduce the original problem.
- Remove it if the symptom is absent, performance declines or a newer driver resolves the issue.
Resizable BAR itself should not be treated as a universal DX12 performance switch based on one game-specific support article. The documented case demonstrates why the game, driver version and symptom must all match.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A practical troubleshooting sequence
1. Establish a baseline
Note the Arc model, driver version, game build, resolution, refresh rate, preset and whether XeSS or ray tracing is enabled. Run the same scene twice so you know normal variation before changing anything.
2. Find the limiting component
Use Intel Graphics Software telemetry while the problem occurs. Sustained high GPU use points toward render settings; low GPU use with poor FPS calls for checking CPU load, synchronization, streaming and game-specific notes.
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3. Change the largest render costs
Test render scale or resolution, then ray tracing and other heavy effects. Keep textures separate if memory pressure is the suspected issue. Change one value per run.
4. Test XeSS at the intended output
Start with the mode whose image quality you can accept, then compare a more aggressive mode only if you still need performance. Inspect fine detail and motion, not just the FPS counter.
5. Set synchronization for the display
Choose Application Choice, Smart VSync or Smooth Sync based on tearing, refresh behavior and latency. Do not count a synchronization change as a rendering optimization.
6. Investigate compatibility only for a named fault
Use Intel’s documented level and preserve the original configuration. Retest both the fault and your repeatable performance scene.
7. Recheck driver notes
Look for a game-specific fix or known issue before retaining a launch option or other workaround. Remove workarounds that no longer apply.
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What not to expect
- There is no Intel-supported one-setting fix that raises FPS across all DX12 games.
- No broadly applicable, independently comparable FPS percentage has been established for changing Arc settings without naming the GPU, driver, game, resolution and test method.
- V-Sync and tearing filters change presentation, not the number of frames the GPU can render.
- A setting that helps one game can reduce performance or image quality in another.
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