Intel has released one fix for poor Arrow Lake performance, and has another in the pipeline
Intel’s recently released Arrow Lake processors were notable for the wrong reasons. Performance was found to be more than a little disappointing, particularly for gamers. A fix was promised, and one has been delivered.
The fix takes the form of a not only an update to Windows, but also a BIOS update. But it does not end there. Intel says that it will be releasing a further update in January which will introduce additional performance optimizations.
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The Arrow Lake problems date back to October when Intel Core Ultra 200S Processors produced wildly erratic benchmark results and gaming performance. Intel investigated and found that no fewer than five issues were contributing to things, specifically:
- A missing Performance & Power Management (PPM) package.
- Intel Application Performance Optimizer (APO) could not take effect.
- BSODs when attempting to launch game titles utilizing the Easy Anti-Cheat service.
- Select performance settings misconfigured on reviewer or early enabling BIOSes.
- New BIOS performance optimizations.
Intel says that it is “pleased to report that 5 of 5 issues have been root caused, 4 of 5 issues are already solved with updates available to you, and significant performance upside is accessible by applying these updates”.
The company adds:
Bottom Line: Apply the latest BIOS updates for your motherboard and update Windows 11 to build 26100.2314 (or newer). New BIOS files with net new performance enhancements will also be available in January to once again improve performance in select games and applications. Intel will publish a complete performance digest, inclusive of the January BIOSes, at CES 2025. You can apply the available updates now or wait for the final performance update in January. The exact performance uplift you individually experience depends on the current patch/update condition of your system, the applications you prefer, and the BIOS/OS/software settings you prefer.
This is certainly good news for anyone with a disappointing Arrow Lake chip, but there is more to come. Intel says:
As a result of our daily investigative efforts since October 26th, 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.
This fifth and final category of performance update requires a new firmware image that is currently undergoing Intel validation prior to customer release. We expect user-facing BIOSes to be released in the first half of January 2025. Exact availability will depend on the test and release schedule for your specific motherboard. The correct BIOSes will be identified with Intel microcode version 0x114 and Intel CSME Firmware Kit 19.0.0.1854v2.2 (or newer).
Full details are available in Intel’s blog post.
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