As a seasoned tech analyst with over two decades of experience under my belt, I’ve seen my fair share of launch hiccups and subsequent fixes. However, the situation with Intel’s Core Ultra Series 200S CPUs has taken the cake (or should I say, the processor?).
On October 10, 2024, after a significant wait, Intel unveiled their “Arrow Lake” desktop AI processors. These come in five variations, starting from Core Ultra 5 and going up to Core Ultra 9. We’ve had the opportunity to examine CPUs from both the lower and higher end of the performance spectrum. After extensive testing, it was evident that these new chips were designed with power efficiency as a priority.
It appears that the gaming performance of the recently reviewed Intel chips did not meet expectations upon arrival. After investigating since October 26, Intel has identified five main performance problems and has released four solutions through Windows 11 and BIOS updates.
Intel’s five primary Core Ultra Series 200S fixes
In its blog post, Intel notes that the opinions about gaming performance in various articles showed a greater division, with significant differences from one article to another. This observation is consistent with what Windows Central Senior Editor Ben Wilson stated in his Core Ultra 5 245K review.
While Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 2 may not deliver the generational leap in performance that some gaming enthusiasts might anticipate, it offers a groundbreaking boost in productivity. This is achieved by integrating a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) into desktops for the first time, with power efficiency being the primary focus of this generation.
Intel has been looking into why the gaming performance reported by reviewers differed from their internal tests, and they’ve concluded their investigation having identified five main problems.
Here are the five root causes with quotes pulled from Intel:
- Missing PPM Package: “Intel incorrectly scheduled this Windows Update package for user/retail availability, not reviewer availability.” — Resolved in Windows 11 build 26100.2161
- Intel APO Could Not Take Effect: “The missing Intel PPM placed the processor into an aberrant state where APO could not take effect.” — Resolved in Windows 11 build 26100.2161
- BSOD When Launching Easy Anti-Cheat Titles: “A known issue between Windows 11 24H2 and the April 2024 (or older) Easy Anti-Cheat driver bundled with PC games.” — Resolved via an updated Epic Games Easy Anti-Cheat driver.
- Select Performance Settings Misconfigured in Reviewer BIOSes: “Consistency of VIP settings not sufficiently re-validated or enforced by Intel.” — Resolved in BIOS updates for Z890 motherboards.
- New BIOS Performance Optimizations: “Intel has additionally identified a small selection of performance optimizations that are recently developed, or were not ready for the motherboard BIOS images released thus far.” — Unresolved but expected to be fixed via BIOS update in January 2025.
As a dedicated fan, I’m excited to share that the Core Ultra 200S series comprises some impressive models: the Core Ultra 5 245KF, Core Ultra 5 245K, Core Ultra 7 265KF, Core Ultra 7 265K, and Core Ultra 9 285K. It seems that these models may share some underlying issues that could potentially impact all chips in the series.
Intel advises promptly installing essential updates to avoid performance problems. It’s recommended that you upgrade to Windows 11 version 26100.2314 (or a later version) and ensure your motherboard has the most recent drivers, which can typically be obtained from the official website of your motherboard manufacturer.
How much of a performance boost can you expect with these updates?
It’s challenging to pinpoint the exact improvement in performance you might experience after fixing the issues affecting your Arrow Lake desktop CPU, as multiple problems could be at play among these five possibilities.
Intel plans to provide a detailed update on its current status, focusing particularly on performance enhancements, during CES 2025. Given AMD’s Ryzen X3D CPUs dominating the PC gaming market, Intel needs to have some exceptionally good news to reveal in just a few weeks at CES.
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2024-12-19 00:39