Intel’s new Core Ultra 200-series desktop processors, codenamed Arrow Lake, launched to significantly underwhelming opinions again in October. Now the American agency has collated 5 points that it says are guilty for the distinction between its personal efficiency expectations and what reviewers skilled, with 4 of the 5 issues described as being already resolved by BIOS, Windows or software updates, and additional efficiency enhancements to reach in January 2025.
For context, our Core i9 285K and Core i5 245K assessment noticed efficiency wins for the 285K in opposition to the outgoing 14900K in three titles – Crysis 3 Remastered, Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Forza Horizon 5 – whereas the 14900K retained its crown within the different eight video games we examined, typically by excessive margins.
Here are the 5 points, their root trigger and present standing, quoted from Intel’s launch:
| Performance Topic | Root Cause | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Unusual scheduling, excessive run-to-run variation, low single-threaded scores, intermittent ~1.5x improve in DRAM latency, efficiency decrease on Windows 11 24H2 vs 23H2 | Intel mistimed deployment of OS energy plan settings (“PPM”), which customises DVFS, core parking and C-states. This prompted a 6-30% efficiency loss | Solved in Windows 11 26100.2161 or newer |
| Intel Application Performance Optimiser (APO) not demonstrating anticipated efficiency outcomes | Missing PPM locations CPU into state the place APO profiles can not apply, choose reviewer BIOSes moreover set APO to disabled by default. This prompted a 2-14% efficiency loss on APO-profiled titles | Solved in Windows 11 26100.2161 or newer |
| BSOD when launching Easy Anti-Cheat titles on Windows 11 24H2 | Known concern with Easy Anti-Cheat KMD and Windows 11 24H2, concern exacerbated by disabling Virtualisation-Based Security (VBS) | Solved with new Easy Anti-Cheat driver distributed by Epic |
| Select efficiency settings misconfigured in some pre-release BIOSes | Consistency of VIP efficiency settings not sufficiently checked by Intel, together with ReBAR, Intel APO, compute ring frequency, IMC gear, sustained/transient energy limits. This prompted a 2-14% efficiency loss | Solved in buyer BIOSes now obtainable |
| New BIOS efficiency enhancements | Fresh optimisations developed for upcoming BIOS updates, at the moment in validation by Intel and its companions, single digit efficiency enhancement estimated amongst a 35-game geomean | Motherboard BIOSes deliberate for January 2025 |
The desk makes for fascinating studying, and Intel’s neighborhood weblog on the topic goes into additional element on every recognized concern too. In it, Intel guarantees “a whole efficiency digest, inclusive of the January BIOSes” at CES early subsequent yr, so we must always get a greater thought of precisely the efficiency differentials we must always count on with all 5 fixes utilized.
We additionally noticed extraordinarily poor efficiency in Cyberpunk 2077 specifically, and that appears to have been solved in sport replace 2.2 if the patch notes are to be believed.
If you’re one of many vanishingly small variety of individuals to be operating a Core i5 245K, Core i7 265K or Core i9 285K system, you then’ve in all probability already up to date to the newest Windows and BIOS variations, nevertheless it’s value doing so now if you have not – and once more in mid January when additional BIOS updates are made obtainable – to make sure that your system is delivering most efficiency. Intel says that the January BIOSes might be “recognized with Intel microcode model 0x114 and Intel CSME Firmware Kit 19.0.0.1854v2.2 (or newer).”
We’ll look to retest the Core i9 285K and Core i5 245K as soon as these January BIOS updates can be found, as we did see a lot worse efficiency than we anticipated and it could be good to see what these proccessors are actually able to. We’re anticipating to listen to extra from Intel at the moment – in addition to rivals AMD and Nvidia – so keep tuned for our reviews from CES within the new yr.
