Intel has announced that the first wave of updates is now available, aiming to address gaming performance issues plaguing its Arrow Lake processors. Intel says the update released today will bring “significant performance improvements” and restore the “full and expected functionality” of Core Ultra 200S Arrow Lake processors. We are currently testing fixes and have summarized the root causes below.
Intel’s update comes after a disappointing round of testing Core Ultra 200S launch day reviewsfound that game performance recorded by different media varied greatly. These results are overwhelmingly inconsistent with performance benchmark Intel had shared this before launch, resulting in an overall poor response to the Arrow Lake processors. last month, Robert Hallock of Intel Corporation announced The investigation is ongoing, and the company says it plans to restore game performance to its original targets and will share details this month.
This update requires new motherboard BIOS firmware and Windows updates, and also fixes several issues. Intel recommends that its customers update to the latest BIOS from their motherboard vendors and update Windows to build 26100.2314 (or later).
In January, Intel will release the final component – a new BIOS version that provides additional performance Exceed What was originally promised. These are features and improvements developed after release. Intel says the final update will increase gaming performance by another single-digit percentage. exist International Consumer Electronics Show In 2025, Intel will release a full A/B performance analysis of the issue as well as a new benchmark that reflects the performance of the entire fix.
Intel identified five root causes, four of which have been addressed with the update provided today. We’ll cover Intel’s list of root causes, and then we’ll give a summary of the fixes for each issue.
Intel Arrow Lake Root Cause
- 1. Lack of performance and power management (PPM) package.
- 2. Intel Application Performance Optimizer (APO) cannot take effect.
- 3. A BSOD occurs when trying to launch the game using the Easy Anti-Cheat service.
- 4. Select reviewer or early enable misconfigured performance settings on the BIOS.
- 5. New BIOS performance optimization.
1.) The Performance and Power Management (PPM) package specifies how Windows Power Plan controls CPU behavior. PPM is usually provided through Windows Update’s chipset driver. Intel said that a missing or faulty PPM can affect multiple performance aspects (Details in accompanying blog post), resulting in a performance reduction of 6% to 30% (estimated), depending on workload or other extenuating factors.
Intel says it mistakenly scheduled this update as “user/retail availability” rather than reviewer availability. PPM is now added to Windows 11 Build 26100.2161 (KB5044384) or later. It has been available in Windows Update since November.
period Hot Hardware’s YouTube live broadcastRobert Hallock confirmed that neither Windows Update nor the chipset driver provided the correct PPM package for review. Intel says the impact can vary widely, so we’ll have to test it to see how it affects our gaming results.
2.) Intel’s Application Performance Optimizer (APO) can improve game performance for a variety of games. This software utility is now automatically installed by default in Windows, but must also be manually enabled in some BIOSes (we confirmed this feature was enabled in our testing). Intel says that incorrect PPM (as mentioned above) causes APO to not function as expected, resulting in a performance drop of 2% to 14%. This problem is now solved by adding the correct PPM package.
3.) BSOD issues caused by anti-cheat software have been resolved through the Easy Anti-Cheat driver update distributed by Epic Games to relevant publishers and developers.
4.) Intel points out that the motherboard BIOS provided to the reviewer contains incorrect default values for a set of “VIP Settings.” The number of incorrect settings and the settings affected vary by vendor. These include settings for “PCIe resizable BAR, Intel APO, compute block ring frequency, memory controller ratio (gear), sustained/transient power limits, etc.”
Intel cited a list of potential impacts, including “unusually high memory latency (expected to be ~1.5-2.0x); unstable or fluctuating compute block ring frequency; high run-to-run standard deviation.” [standard deviation] Suitable for dynamic or unpredictable workloads; gaming performance benefiting from PCIe resizable BAR does not improve; gaming performance benefiting from Intel APO does not improve.
Intel says this results in a 2% to 14% impact on performance (the same performance loss caused by APO not working properly). Intel said it did not properly implement VIP settings with motherboard vendors. All new BIOS revisions correct this problem.
5.) Intel will release new BIOS and CSME firmware packages in the first half of January 2025, but availability will vary based on vendor. This final update will include undisclosed “minor performance optimizations” developed after release. Intel says this update will increase gaming performance by another single-digit percentage (as measured by Intel as a geometric mean across approximately 35 games).
This new firmware update is Intel microcode version 0x114 and Intel CSME Firmware Suite 19.0.0.1854v2.2 (or later). The 0x114 microcode will not function properly unless paired with the CSME firmware package. CSME is fully packaged in BIOS updates, so no additional driver updates are required.
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Intel says the Windows and firmware updates currently available will bring Arrow Lake up to promised performance levels – the new BIOS launched in January is simply an additional level of performance beyond Intel’s original predictions. We’ve also seen software updates, such as those for Cyberpunk 2077 Performance improvement up to 33%can also significantly enhance the reputation of Arrow Lake. Both are promising developments.
we also saw Beta testing of new 0x114 microcode Release expected in January. These preliminary tests show little performance improvement, but it’s important to note that the firmware requires the included CSME firmware kit to work properly, which is not currently available. This makes the test invalid. We still have to wait for the official version of the 0x114 microcode to judge.
In the meantime, all that’s left to do is test the performance issues Intel claims have been fixed with the update available today. As you can imagine, we’re already busy testing these changes. stay tuned.