Monday, October 18th 2021
Intel "Alder Lake" has Compatibility Issues with Older Versions of Denuvo DRM Middleware
Users of Intel's upcoming 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" processors will potentially run into compatibility issues with some of the older games that use older versions of popular DRM middleware such as Denuvo, an Intel document targeted at developers, cautions. This is mainly due to the hybrid CPU core nature of "Alder Lake," which could confuse the middleware. Solutions such as Denuvo perform stringent hardware checks to ensure only a valid user in a given environment, with a set of hardware, gets to play the game. Our article on Denuvo performance impact has more details on how the solution works.
"If your existing or upcoming game uses a DRM middleware, you might want to contact the middleware provider and confirm that it supports hybrid architectures in general, and the upcoming Intel ADL platform in particular. Due to the nature of modern DRM algorithms, it might use CPU detection, and should be aware of the upcoming hybrid platforms. Intel is working with leading DRM providers such as Denuvo to make sure their solutions support new platforms," reads the Intel Developer Guide. While this should be no probem for some of the newer (less than 3 years old) games that use Denuvo, which are still under support lifecycle from their developers, some of the older ones may require updates.
Sources:
Intel, Gamer's Gospel, Tom's Hardware
"If your existing or upcoming game uses a DRM middleware, you might want to contact the middleware provider and confirm that it supports hybrid architectures in general, and the upcoming Intel ADL platform in particular. Due to the nature of modern DRM algorithms, it might use CPU detection, and should be aware of the upcoming hybrid platforms. Intel is working with leading DRM providers such as Denuvo to make sure their solutions support new platforms," reads the Intel Developer Guide. While this should be no probem for some of the newer (less than 3 years old) games that use Denuvo, which are still under support lifecycle from their developers, some of the older ones may require updates.
17 Comments on Intel "Alder Lake" has Compatibility Issues with Older Versions of Denuvo DRM Middleware
I however wonder, how many older programs/games will have problems with hybrid architectures ...
I keep buying GOG games any time I can, I'm too old to mess with shitty DRMs.
Surely, right?
Intel wouldn't be that goddamned stupid, would they?
The idea of hybrid with low power and high power cores already exists in mobile space.
But why on desktop? Just create a powerfull / efficient core on it's own and you dont need hybrid in the first place. Ryzen is a perfect example of that.
Event he likes of office desktops and workstations still see idle time where this idea may hold merit. We'll have to wait to see power usage during normal taks, like web browsing, to see if the efficiency gains are realized or if this is intel grapsing at straws trying to hold zen 4 back.
Even if we’re just talking x86, I’d still be surprised to see that much gain from e-cores in the mobile space, unless ADL’s power cores are designed with fewer low-power management features than previous designs. I keep going back to the exclusion of efficiency cores across the lower end of the product stack. You’ll need premium CPUs to get the efficiency cores. There probably is a future in hybrid designs, but it might be somewhat of a mixed bag in terms of performance and efficiency for a while. Ironically, the first hybrid, Lakefield, was more of a minimalist 1+4 design, and it performed quite terribly.
Related to the topic, there is probably a good deal of legacy software out there that may not run ideally, even with the Windows 11 scheduler. I wonder if we’re just going to see the performance of some legacy programs suffer, or will we just see efficiency suffer when a legacy program just pegs the p-cores? There are tons of old titles that are still 32bit, never even updated to accommodate 64bit—they likely won’t be getting a hybrid CPU update either. I hope reviews start looking at legacy app performance, and not just modern titles. ADL should give reviewers a lot to chew on, that’s for sure.
No they're not stupid, they just cant see the bigger picture of what they actually do.