Intel have good support for many linux distribution. When i try another linux distribution all of them when booting into my machine with intel VGA, work without problem. And for archlinux you must install the driver first before run any desktop environment first.
On terminal:
#pacman -S xf86-video-intel
When done, set KMS
#nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
add on modules "i915" like this picture below:
Save (Ctrl+x), then
#mkinitcpio -p linux
Now your intel vga driver is installed. To test your intel VGA acceleration, you can test by installing 3D games, or xscreensaver.
If xscreensaver run smoothly on 3D screensaver, then your intel vga driver is installed correctly.
Enjoy.