Here's a bold statement: The future of Intel Arc GPU performance on Linux might hinge on a driver decision that’s more complex than you think. And this is the part most people miss—while the i915 driver has been the go-to for Intel graphics for years, the newer Xe driver promises significant advancements, especially for modern architectures like the Arc Alchemist series. But which one truly delivers better performance? Let’s dive in.
Much like the situation with AMD’s GCN 1.0/1.1 GPUs, where the Radeon and AMDGPU drivers overlapped (now defaulted to AMDGPU for older Radeon GPUs in Linux 6.19), Intel’s Arc A-Series “Alchemist” graphics cards face a similar dilemma. By default, Alchemist and Meteor Lake GPUs rely on the i915 kernel driver, but users can opt for the Xe driver—Intel’s cutting-edge, open-source solution. As part of our 2025 year-end benchmarks, we’re putting these drivers to the test, starting with the Intel Arc Graphics A580.
But here’s where it gets controversial: The Xe driver, designed with discrete GPUs and non-x8664 architectures like ARM64 and RISC-V in mind, offers a modern overhaul compared to the decades-old i915 driver. However, it’s only the default for upcoming Lunar Lake and Battlemage hardware. For Alchemist and Meteor Lake, switching to Xe requires manual intervention via kernel module options like `i915.forceprobe=![PCI-ID]andxe.force_probe=[PCI-ID]`. Regardless of the kernel driver, both rely on the same ANV Vulkan and Iris Gallium3D Mesa drivers for rendering.
Our latest benchmark revisits the Xe vs. i915 performance debate using the Linux 6.19 Git kernel and Mesa 26.0-devel. Testing focused on the Intel Arc Graphics A580, as the Arc A750 and A770 were incompatible with Linux 6.19 at the time of testing—neither card could output a display, as confirmed by kernel logs on a remote system.
Here’s the thought-provoking question: Is Intel’s push toward the Xe driver a necessary evolution, or is the i915 driver still sufficient for current-gen hardware? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. The A580, at least, worked seamlessly with both drivers on Linux 6.19, but the real-world performance differences—and whether Xe justifies the switch—are what we’re here to explore.
