Intel's partners such as ASUS, Gigabyte, & ASRock have released the highly anticipated "0x114" microcode BIOS for their Z890 designs.
ASUS, ASRock & Gigabyte Have Already Released The Updated Intel 0x114 BIOS Version For Their Z890 Motherboards, Rest To Likely Follow
As a Christmas gift, perhaps, Team Blue has surprised us by releasing the "0x114" microcode with a BIOS update, likely patching the performance issues persistent with the new Arrow Lake-S desktop CPUs.
Interestingly, Intel's partners, such as ASUS, Colorful, and ASRock, have already released their respective BIOS versions adhering to the new microcode. Since the new BIOS versions are apparently in their beta stages and aren't available on public sources yet, we have compiled a list of where you can access the updated versions and credits to links from @9550pro & @harukaze5719.
For those unaware, Intel's Core Ultra 200S desktop CPUs were experiencing significantly lower performance than what Team Blue had pitched us with the official release. As a solution, Intel recently released a "Field Update" on the reasons behind the performance degradation, identifying five different root issues associated with the PPM (Performance and Power Management (PPM) configuration, along with APO (Application Optimizer) and several other elements.
Interestingly, in a previous post, we talked about a briefing made by Intel China to the media, disclosing a double-digit performance gain after resolving the root causes identified, and there was a huge difference in both synthetic and gaming benchmarks after applying the solutions pushed out by Intel.
Whether or not the new "0x114" microcode will bring the same performance difference to consumer systems is a question that is to be answered later on, but by the looks of it, we are expected to see noticeable improvements.
Team Blue is also planning to hold a media briefing around CES 2025, guiding upon the Core Ultra 200S performance issues, so around that timeline, we will see the new BIOS updates coming onto more mainstream sources. For consumers looking to test out the new microcode, we would advise them to wait and let the experts do the job since, with Intel, you can never be certain.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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