Intel’s “Core Ultra 200S” CPUs have reportedly seen significant performance improvements following a recent round of updates. The updates come as a fix for data problems with Intel’s Arrow Lake-S (ARL-S) desktop CPUs, which had been underwhelming in consumer-based systems.
Intel has said five areas contributed to the gap, including Performance and Power Management (PPM), Application Optimizer (APO), and others. Intel then rolled out such updates that seem to have made a significant difference according to a media briefing held by Intel China (via Chiphell).
Table of Contents
Intel’s “Core Ultra 200S” CPUs See Major Performance Boost After Optimizations, Better Memory & Overclocking Support
The updates yielded very promising results with performance gains across several metrics. During Geekbench testing, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K delivered 12.3% better single-core performance and no differences in multi-core performance. We see similar results in Cinebench R23, with a 5% gain on the single-core side of things and no change to the multi-core results. Gaming performance also improved, seeing an 18% average FPS increase with some titles — like Cyberpunk 2077 — post-upgrade.
Intel has also fixed Easy Anti-Cheat issues that were preventing games from launching using the Core Ultra 200S CPUs. In playing Apex Legends, there seemed to be a noticeable improvement with the patch in terms of fluidity. These performance improvements were noted in the media briefing benchmarks Intel has released, but it’s difficult to understand how these changes will impact longer-term real-world performance.
Intel also talked about improved out-of-the-box memory timings, which the company said had limited the ARL-S performance, as well as improvements to overclocking features such as 1-click overclocking. You are up to date. Intel’s latest CPUs have had a rough start, but between microcode “0x114” expected in mid-January which should refine the raw power of the Core Ultra 200S series further, it seems this will bring a redemption arc of sorts for the company moving forward.
FAQs
What improvements were made to Intel’s Core Ultra 200S CPUs?
Intel applied updates addressing issues in performance and power management, boosting single-core and gaming performance by up to 18%.
When will Intel’s new microcode be released?
Intel plans to release the “0x114” microcode by mid-January for further performance enhancements.
