Intel's Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" Jan BIOS update offers up to 26% performance uplift in gaming and up to 97% in synthetic apps.
Intel Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" CPUs Microcode to Improve Both Gaming Performance and Latency with the Upcoming BIOS Patch
Once again, Intel is claiming that their 'new' BIOS patch will fix the gaming performance of the Arrow Lake processors, particularly the Core Ultra 200S desktop ones. There have been several updates and announcements in recent weeks about this, but there were little to no improvements in gaming, even with the microcode 0x114.
Intel has been consistently trying to fix the gaming performance by sending various BIOS upgrades to its board partners but has mostly failed. However, in the latest presentation, Intel claims that the upcoming BIOS patch could improve gaming performance by around 17.5% on average. This is according to the data provided by Intel, so take this with a grain of salt.
As you can see in the slide, Intel tested one of its Arrow Lake processors (model not disclosed) with the newest patch and saw up to 26% performance gains in Cyberpunk 2077, up to 7% in Assassin's Creed Mirage, up to 21% in DOTA 2, and up to 16% in Far Cry 6. These are the only four games it tested but didn't disclose the configuration or the settings it used in these tests.
Intel claims that the synthetic performance also improves with this patch, resulting in about 52% enhancement in single-thread Cinebench 2024, up to a whopping 97% uplift in 3DMark Time Spy Overall, up to 10% in 3DMark Time Spy CPU, and up to 30% reduction in latency as found in AIDA64 Memory latency.
52% uplifts in single-threaded tests seem too good to be true because this is much higher even compared to generational uplifts. The current single-core score of Core Ultra 9 285K in the Cinebench 2024 test is 140–145 points, but a 52% uplift would mean 212–220 points, which is highly unlikely and misleading as well.
Nonetheless, we will wait for the BIOS patch to drop and see how significant the performance impact is on the gaming and synthetic performance of the Intel Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake" desktop CPUs.
News Source: @anshelsag
About the author: Sarfraz Khan is a hardware reporter with a focus on PC components and the builder community. With years of experience writing about PC hardware and laptops, his work has been featured on several reputable technology publications. Sarfraz's hands-on experience is demonstrated through his first-person accounts of using and comparing different hardware configurations, providing practical and relatable insights for everyday users. His technical analysis is respected by peers in the enthusiast community and has been cited by specialized hardware sites such as Germany's Igor's Lab.
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