Intel has disclosed the findings from its inquiry into the performance issues that arose during the launch of its Core Ultra 200S (Arrow Lake-S) processors in October. A total of five distinct problems impacted the performance of the platform. So far, Intel has resolved four of these issues, and the remaining one is expected to be fixed by January 2025.
Key Findings from the Investigation
The investigation commenced on October 26, revealing a significant issue: a missing Performance & Power Management (PPM) package. This absence led to unpredictable behavior, where CPUs failed to schedule tasks properly, performance fluctuated when cores were turned off, and memory latency occasionally surged to twice its normal level. Intel estimates that this single issue resulted in a performance reduction ranging from 6 percent to 30 percent, depending on the specific tasks being performed.
Additional Issues Identified
Another problem stemmed from the Intel Application Performance Optimizer (APO), which failed to function correctly due to the missing PPM package. As a result, the anticipated improvements in gaming performance were not realized, leading to declines between 2 percent and 14 percent. Furthermore, systems experienced crashes when users attempted to launch games that utilized Easy Anti-Cheat, a problem linked to compatibility issues with Windows 11 24H2.
The review units also exhibited inconsistencies in the BIOS setup. Important features such as PCIe Resizable BAR, compute tile ring frequency, and memory controller ratios were not uniformly configured, contributing to an additional performance drop of around 2 percent to 14 percent, contingent on the application and BIOS configurations.
Steps Toward Resolution
Intel has already addressed the majority of these issues. The problems with the PPM and APO were resolved in Windows 11 build 26100.2161 (KB5044384). Epic Games has introduced a new driver for Easy Anti-Cheat, and updated BIOS versions for Intel Z890-based motherboards have also been rolled out.
The final component that needs attention is a performance optimization package, which will require firmware updates and is slated for release in January 2025. These updates will contain Intel microcode version 0x114 and Intel CSME Firmware Kit 19.0.0.1854v2.2 or newer. Once these updates are applied, gamers should see slight but useful performance improvements across several titles.
Intel intends to provide a comprehensive performance report at CES 2025, including detailed benchmarks and comparative analyses. Additionally, the company has put in place new protocols to help prevent similar issues from arising in the future.
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