This new Intel GPU feature could make budget gaming laptops much better

A new Intel GPU driver update can potentially unlock better performance on your gaming laptop. A new feature, labeled "Shared GPU memory override," has been introduced that allows you to manually set how much of your system memory is set aside for VRAM, with the ability to dedicate up to 87% of your VRAM for gaming.

If you're rocking a machine from our best gaming laptop guide with its own dedicated GPU, then you won't need to worry about shared VRAM. This new setting makes gaming on an Intel iGPU a more appealing prospect, although it isn't a miracle worker - it can't turn an iGPU into an RTX 5090, after all.

The latest Intel Arc graphics driver, version 32.0.101.6987, allows for gamers with integrated Intel Arc GPUs to manually set the VRAM available for the GPU to use inside the Intel Graphics app. For it to work, you'll need an Intel Core Ultra processor with at least 10GB of system RAM. You can read the full release notes here.

Those notes claim that Series 1 (Meteor Lake) or Series 2 Core Ultra processors will work with the feature, although its own knowledge base states only Series 2 (Arrow Lake) processors will work, so your mileage may vary for now. A screenshot on the same page also shows that 87% is the maximum memory users can apply to their VRAM using this feature.

This is potentially handy for gamers with laptops that don't have a dedicated GPU, especially on budget laptops. Allowing users to manually increase their system RAM allocation towards VRAM, especially if they've got 16GB, 32GB, or more to spare, could help to improve frame rates in games that are particularly VRAM-intensive.

However, while it might be tempting to allocate a huge amount of memory towards your VRAM, it's important to get the balance right. It does give you greater control to tweak your settings, which enthusiasts will like, but leaving your system with a small allocation of system RAM could slow down the rest of your system. It's a good idea to test and tweak the VRAM allocation upwards (or downwards) to find the right balance in the games you play.

If you're thinking about a new gaming rig that you can take with you, you'll want to consider handhelds. Our best handheld guide has a strong list of options, from the OG Steam Deck to serious Windows alternatives such as the Asus ROG Ally X.

Let us know if you're using this feature in our Discord server, especially if you see a serious improvement in your laptop's gaming performance as a result.