Intel Core Ultra 200 desktop processors did not impress some reviewers (including us) when they launched last October as the company’s new flagship line named Arrow Lake-S. While they perform well enough in computational benchmarks, Intel Core Ultra 200 gaming performance has been inconsistent, with these chips being outperformed by previous generation Raptor Lake products in many titles.
Updates bring no results – Update (January 18): We have not yet tested the fixes that Intel claims for its Arrow Lake chips; however, Tom’s Hardware quickly conducted several gaming tests on the flagship Core Ultra 9 285K. In short, the updates do not resolve the poor gaming performance of such a high-end chip.
In some cases, performance even decreased after updates, while previous generation Raptor Lake Refresh chips benefited more from necessary OS updates, further widening the gap. Ultimately, we cannot justify the way Intel is attempting to spin this narrative beyond what can be proven, and making false promises does more harm than good.
The initial issue was as follows:
Intel quickly investigated the situation, and by December, they had a clear idea of the cause of the performance issues. It turned out to be a combination of power planning issues, anti-cheat settings, and some other random factors – although the biggest issue was the lack of the Power & Performance Management (PPM) package.
The first wave of fixes was released before the holidays in a mandatory Windows 11 update along with some patches from developers. But Intel said we would have to wait until CES in January for a second wave – a critical BIOS update to truly unlock the untapped potential of the Ultra 200. Well, that update has just been released, and according to Intel’s internal testing, it has thoroughly addressed the performance issues.
There are some significant improvements in gaming performance according to Intel’s data. For instance, in Cyberpunk: 2077, Intel states that the fixes can provide up to a 26% increase in frames per second on patched Ultra 200 systems, according to PC World. Similarly, Far Cry 6 can see up to a 16% FPS boost.
However, the performance gains are not limited to games. Intel also conducted 3DMark TimeSpy synthetic benchmarks and stated that patched Ultra 200 systems can see overall scores soar by up to 97%.
We need to conduct a few of our own tests before we can confirm Intel’s lofty figures. But all software and BIOS updates are now available, so if you own a poorly performing Arrow Lake system, you should download those updates. Make sure you are using the latest version of Windows and check with your system manufacturer or motherboard manufacturer for critical BIOS updates.
Now that the Ultra 200 desktop issues have (hopefully) been resolved, Intel can focus on ensuring a smooth and high-performance release for the new Core H and HX CPUs for gamers and creators. These processors are expected to ship in the near future, so we hope Intel can ensure a successful launch this time.
