Intel's new update fixes gaming issues on Arrow Lake CPUs
Intel has released the first batch of updates to fix the gaming performance issues of its Arrow Lake processors. The company promises that these updates will greatly improve performance and bring back the full capabilities of the Core Ultra 200S Arrow Lake processors. The move comes after a slew of erratic gaming performance results from multiple media outlets on the launch day reviews of Core Ultra 200S, which didn't match Intel's pre-launch benchmarks.
Company's response to performance inconsistencies
In light of such performance numbers, Intel's Vice President and General Manager, Robert Hallock, announced last month that an investigation was underway. The company hopes to restore gaming performance to its original targets and share details this month. To apply the update, users need a new motherboard BIOS firmware and a Windows update that also fixes a number of issues. Intel recommends customers update their motherboard vendor's latest BIOS and upgrade Windows to build 26100.2314 or newer versions.
Plans for further performance enhancements in January
Intel plans to release another component in January - a new BIOS revision promising more performance than initially promised. This final update is expected to deliver an additional single-digit percentage increase in gaming performance. At CES 2025, Intel will present a comprehensive A/B performance analysis of the issues and new benchmarks reflecting the entire fix's performance.
Root causes for performance issues
Intel has pinpointed five root causes for the performance issues with Arrow Lake processors. These are a missing Performance & Power Management (PPM) package, Intel Application Performance Optimizer (APO) not taking effect, BSODs when launching game titles using the Easy Anti-Cheat service, select performance settings misconfigured on reviewer or early enabling BIOSes, and new BIOS performance optimizations. Hallock confirmed that four root issues have been addressed and fixes are already available.
Intel's new Arrow Lake CPUs underperformed in gaming
Launched in October, Intel's new Arrow Lake CPUs promised high performance at lower power levels. However, reviews noted surprisingly lackluster gaming performance. Tom Warren, a senior editor at The Verge stated about the Core Ultra 9 285K that "in many titles, it provides worse performance than the 14th Gen chips it was designed to replace." Intel also noted that Epic Games has fixed a driver compatibility issue triggering the BSOD while playing games with Easy Anti-Cheat, like Star Wars Outlaws.
