Arrow Lake Performance Update: Four issues fixed, “more” gaming performance from January 95
There are no miracles, just hard work: five issues reportedly slowed down the Intel Core Ultra 200S at launch, four of which Intel has now fixed with BIOS updates and updates for Windows 11 24H2. The 5th patch is expected to bring additional “single digit” gaming performance in January. This doesn’t make the Arrow Lake-S a high-flying vehicle either.
“Single-digit” increase with January microcode 114 update
If a manufacturer announces a performance increase in the “single-digit range”, then it is certain that the increase will certainly not be higher. Given Intel’s most recent performance predictions for Arrow Lake (the company previously reported gaming performance on par with its predecessor and only five percent behind AMD’s X3D), such announcements should be considered with particular caution – because things worked out differently in the Core. Ultra 200S test.
But first.
Intel identifies five problem areas
Shortly after the launch of the Core Ultra 200S, disappointing in terms of gaming performance, Robert Hallock, technical marketing manager at Intel, explained that the company would attempt to unlock more performance via a microcode update.
Intel let the Arrow Lake launch go poorly in October in several ways due to its own mistakes: Windows 11 24H2 was not yet at the level it needed, and there were also immature BIOS versions and Missing drivers and software. In total, there were five major projects, Intel explains today:
A missing Performance and Power Management (PPM) package. Intel Application Performance Optimizer (APO) failed to take effect on BSODs when attempting to launch game titles using the Easy Anti-Cheat service. Select misconfigured performance settings when reviewing or early BIOS activation. New BIOS performance optimizations Intel
Techastuce had already solved the first problem on day one (better performance compared to balanced: with the standard Windows profile, Core Ultra 200 is too slow), and the editorial team had already discussed the third problem – but at that time only in connection with the 12th Gen Core – reported (blue screens: Windows 11 24H2, Easy Anti-Cheat and 12th Gen Core in close combat. Intel now cites problems with the Application Performance Optimizer tool as additional points (APO) as well as incorrectly configured motherboards among the testers.
Four problems in the test had no influence
While the first point only appeared in the Windows energy profile “Balanced” and could be solved by switching to “Highest performance” (as Techastuce had also tested), problems 2 and 4 would have ensured that games running with APO could run faster. run, I couldn’t run faster. However, the only relevant games in Techastuce’s test course were Cyberpunk 2077 and its APO profile wasn’t even ready at launch – another own goal.
ARL-S Performance Update (Image: Intel)
Four issues fixed
According to Intel, points 1 to 4 have already been fixed. This now requires at least Windows 11 24H2 Build 2314 and a BIOS with microcode update 113. In fact, the editorial team can confirm that the question of balance and high performance is a thing of the past. And the extremely poor performance of Cyberpunk 2077’s new processors is now resolved.
Microcode 114 update with Gaming-Booster
The last point is addressed with the microcode update 114, which is currently in the testing phase and whose widespread delivery is planned from January 2025 – but the first manufacturers are already distributing it (in beta). This update is then predicted to produce single-digit performance gains in games across the board and not just via APO. Techconseil will attempt to investigate this matter as soon as possible.
The year 2025 in focus
Intel will release more information on this topic at CES 2025 in early January. The timing is certainly relevant, because starting in January the entire line of cheaper motherboards with new chipsets as well as many more Arrow Lake S series processors below the K CPUs will hit the market. Then all major OEM partners also join us. Up until now, Arrow Lake has been more of a DIY product and a failure. More recently, system integrators have also stated that until now almost no one is buying these solutions. Intel wants and must turn the situation around by 2025.
Techtip received information about this report from Intel under NDA. The only requirement was the earliest possible release date.
Marc deciphers processors by testing their performance for gaming, content creation, and artificial intelligence.
