Intel reveals findings from Arrow Lake-S performance investigation

Intel launched an investigation into the root cause behind the Arrow Lake-S performance issues back on October 26th. Shortly after the first reviews for Intel Core Ultra 200 desktop processors went live, testers noticed that gaming performance wasn’t where it should be. Now, Intel has revealed its findings following weeks of daily testing and investigations.

According to Intel’s internal investigation, there were five distinct issues detected to alter performance. The first issue was a missing Performance & Power Management package in the Windows OS. Missing or incomplete PPM updates can negatively impact things like boost speeds and the amount of time it takes for your CPU to ramp up to higher clock rates. Intel says it incorrectly scheduled this Windows Update package for user/retail availability and not reviewer availability. The correct power management profile for these processors has since shipped in Windows, meaning this problem has already been resolved.

Out of the five key issues, four of them have already been fixed through software updates. Aside from shipping the correct PPM, Intel has also fixed an issue with its Application Performance Optimizer not taking effect, BSOD issues with games that utilise Easy Anti-Cheat software, and updated its BIOS settings to enable a number of core features required to squeeze the most out of Core Ultra 200 CPUs.

In January, Intel plans to roll out a new BIOS with additional firmware updates packaged in and updated microcode to further enhance performance while gaming. This update is expected to improve performance by single digit percentages, but combined with the previous BIOS update and the latest Windows Updates, users should see more measurable and significant performance improvements in certain games.

To ensure that a launch like this doesn’t happen again, Intel has implemented new practices and policies to catch issues earlier, before CPUs are sent out to reviewers and retailers. At CES 2025, Intel will release a comprehensive performance update with more issue-by-issue analysis, as well as comparative performance testing across a wide range of games.

You can see Intel’s full breakdown in their public blog post.

KitGuru Says: Have you used an Arrow Lake / Core Ultra 200 desktop CPU yet? Have you noticed performance improvements after recent updates?

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