Intel reaches “full performance” with new Core Ultra 200S updates
Intel has given their Arrow Lake CPUs a performance boost with a new range of updates
Following their CES 2025 public broadcast, Intel updated the tech press on their Core Ultra 200S desktop processors. Specifically, Intel confirmed that their “software for the 200S (Arrow Lake) has reached full performance.” Intel Core Ultra Arrow Lake systems can access their intended performance if users follow three simple steps.
What are these steps? 1. Update your motherboard’s BIOS 2. Install and Enable Intel Application Optimisation (APO) 3. Update your Windows install. These steps will implement all of Intel’s fixes for their Arrow Lake platform, enabling boosted system performance.
Below, we will discuss some of the problems that Intel faced with Arrow Lake and the impact of their fixes.
Power Plan Problems
When Arrow Lake launched, Intel’s Arrow Lake Performance and Power Management (PPM) package had not been added to Windows 11. This resulted in sup-par performance levels, especially when Windows 11’s default “Balanced” power plan was enabled. Previously, only Windows’ high-performance plan could deliver optimal Arrow Lake CPU performance. Now, both Windows’ Balanced and High-Performance power plans can deliver optimised Arrow Lake performance.
Below, we can see the impact of Intel’s PPM package. In some cases, no performance is gained, but in extreme cases, performance gains can be as large as 37%. The performance impact of this change will vary on a case-by-case basis. For Far Cry 6, 9% gains are achieved. For Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, 15% gains are achieved.
Intel’s new PPM package is available with the latest updates to Microsoft’s Windows 11 OS.
Intel Core Ultra 200S BIOS Fixes
As crucial as Windows updates are to unlocking the full performance of Intel’s Core Ultra 200S series CPUs, motherboard BIOS updates are also critical. Below, we can see the impact of changes to CCF AutoGV. This one change delivered up to 7% performance gains in 7-Zip. Note that this is not the only change that Intel has made to its motherboard BIOS.
Simply put, many motherboards launched with BIOS settings did not deliver the best performance for Intel’s Arrow Lake platform. In the case of AutoGV, it resulted in situations where CPU cores could talk to one another at much lower speeds to save power. We were told that Arrow Lake’s Die-to-Die frequency should be 3.8 GHz, but it could run at as low as 800 MHz. While these optimisations can make sense for battery-fueled mobile CPUs, they make no sense for performance-focused desktops.
Intel has made various changes and optimisations to their Arrow Lake BIOS profiles to enable users to achieve higher levels of system performance. As such, Intel Core Ultra 200S CPU users should update their motherboards to the newest BIOS versions available from their manufacturer.
Application Optimisation (APO) Impact
Intel also noted that up to 14% performance gains could be achieved when using Intel’s Applications Optimisation tool, which can be downloaded through the Microsoft Store. If users want the best performance from compatible games, they should install this application.
Intel has fixed Arrow Lake
It’s safe to say that Intel fumbled when Arrow Lake launched. Intel has now accessed this situation and has put in place a wide range of fixes that have strengthened its Core 200S platform. Below, we can see that AIDA64 Memory latency is now 30% lower than before. Gaming performance has increased significantly for many titles. In extreme cases, Intel has even showcased 97% performance gains.
In light of these changes, opinions of Intel’s Arrow Lake platform need to be reaccessed. That’s why we plan to re-review all of Intel’s Arrow Lake 200S CPUs when we return from CES 2025. Will Intel’s changes alter our opinions of Arrow Lake? Can these changes push Intel’s newest CPUs ahead of rival products? We will report our findings as soon as we can.
Props to Intel for taking the time to explain to us how they have changed their Arrow Lake platform. Special thanks to Robert Hallock for diving so deep into Inel’s new Arrow Lake optimisations. Rob has always been a great communicator for these kinds of details and this article only covers the main points that he presented to us.
You can join the discussion on Intel’s Core Ultra 200S “Arrow Lake” CPU Performance Updates on the OC3D Forums.
