Gigabyte has confirmed support for the upcoming Intel Arrow Lake "Core Ultra 200S Plus" Refresh CPUs in the new BIOS for its Z890 motherboards.
Gigabyte & ASRock Roll Out Latest BIOS For Arrow Lake CPUs On Z890 Motherboards With 0x11b/0x11d Firmware Microcode, Supports Upcoming Core Ultra 200S Refresh
Gigabyte has become the first motherboard manufacturer to confirm support for the upcoming Intel Arrow Lake "Core Ultra 200S Plus" Refresh CPUs for its 800-series motherboards. The motherboard vendor has a new BIOS with updated CPU microcode "m_82_c0662_0000011B" or 0x11B, and the latest Intel Management Engine firmware rolling out for its Z890 motherboards.
The highlight of this new BIOS is that it is "Ready for upcoming Core Ultra 2-series processors," which, without a doubt, points towards the Core Ultra 200S Plus Refresh CPUs. These chips will be part of the Intel Arrow Lake Refresh, which is expected to be introduced at CES 2026, and will include new PLUS SKUs, offering higher clock speeds and upgraded core specifications (limited to certain SKUs).
Besides this, ASRock has also rolled out its latest Z890 BIOS, which adds an even newer microcode update in the form of 0x11D. This microcode is dated for October 2025, and there's also a newer Intel ME firmware (v2095). So it looks like motherboard vendors are now prepping for the upcoming Intel CPUs, which are right around the corner.
Both Intel and AMD will be doing soft refreshes of their existing lineups for desktop platforms. While Intel rolls out refreshed Arrow Lake CPUs under the "Core Ultra 200S Plus" family, AMD will be releasing newer 3D V-Cache SKUs based on the Zen 5 core architecture. Neither company is going to roll out next-gen stuff anytime soon since those are planned for the second half of 2026, and the current DRAM situation might even delay those lineups further.
Intel itself also confirmed that the new lineup will support native CUDIMM DDR5 speeds of up to 7200 MT/s, a nice step up from the 6400 MT/s on the current lineup. Users who own Intel Z890 or 800-series motherboards and are planning to upgrade their systems should update their BIOS now or wait for further updates prior to the release of the refreshed lineup.
Intel Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" and Arrow Lake Refresh CPU Specs:
| CPU | Cores/Threads | Base Clock (P/E Core) | Max Boost (P/E Core) | Cache (L3 / L2) | Memory Support | TDP (PL1 / PL2) | Price (SEP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Ultra 9 290K Plus | 24/24 (8+16) | 3.7 / 3.2 GHz | 5.8 / 4.8 GHz | 36 MB / 40 MB | DDR5-7200 | 125W / 250W | Cancelled |
| Core Ultra 9 285K | 24/24 (8+16) | 3.7 / 3.2 GHz | 5.7 / 4.6 GHz | 36 MB / 40 MB | DDR5-6400 | 125W / 250W | $589 US |
| Core Ultra 7 270K Plus | 24/24 (8+16) | 3.7 / 3.2 GHz | 5.5 / 4.7 GHz | 36 MB / 40 MB | DDR5-7200 | 125W / 250W | $299 US |
| Core Ultra 7 265K | 20/20 (8+12) | 3.9 / 3.3 GHz | 5.5 / 4.6 GHz | 30 MB / 36 MB | DDR5-6400 | 125W / 250W | $394 US |
| Core Ultra 7 265KF | 20/20 (8+12) | 3.9 / 3.3 GHz | 5.5 / 4.6 GHz | 30 MB / 36 MB | DDR5-6400 | 125W / 250W | $379 US |
| Core Ultra 5 250K Plus | 18/18 (6+12) | 4.2 / 3.5 GHz | 5.3 / 4.7 GHz | 24 MB / 26 MB ? | DDR5-7200 | 125W / 159W | $199 US |
| Core Ultra 5 245K | 14/14 (6+8) | 4.2 / 3.6 GHz | 5.2 / 4.6 GHz | 24 MB / 26 MB | DDR5-6400 | 125W / 159W | $309 US |
| Core Ultra 5 245KF | 14/14 (6+8) | 4.2 / 3.6 GHz | 5.2 / 4.6 GHz | 24 MB / 26 MB | DDR5-6400 | 125W / 159W | $294 US |
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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