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Intel’s Hallock On Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200S Processor Performance Fixes - YouTubeWatch On
Intel’s Hallock On Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200S Processor Performance Fixes - YouTube
Intel’s Hallock On Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200S Processor Performance Fixes - YouTube
In an interview about its Arrow Lake processor launch, Intel admitted that the release didn’t go as planned, citing a disparity between its own results and those from reviewers. It also said it has some performance fixes coming soon that should address those differences. But my own meeting with Intel, and additional tests I’ve carried out since, suggest you shouldn’t expect to see any big gains heading your way.
Hallock also remarked on Arrow Lake’s test results, saying that “the performance we saw in review—and to be very clear, through no fault of reviewers—was not what we expected and not what we intended. The launch just didn’t go as planned.”
The phrase “not what we expected” is particularly interesting because in my meeting with Intel, after I provided them with my full set of results and benchmarking methods prior to the review’s release, it said those figures were in line with its internal testing, albeit a little bit behind in some tests.
But even so, I’m not convinced Arrow Lake can be so easily fixed, for gaming at least. I’ve been experimenting with changing the multitude of clocks in Core Ultra 200S processors, as well astesting them with different RAM speeds. The most stable, overclocked configuration I could achieve, with some super-fast RAM, was an 11% increase in the compute tile’s cache ring clock, a 15% increase in the uncore clock (NGU), and a 19% increase in the die-to-die (D2D) clock.
However, those gains also came with a mean power increase of 15% in gaming (26% higher in the case of Baldur’s Gate 3). Fortunately, since Arrow Lake isn’t anywhere near as power-hungry as Raptor Lake is in gaming, that power rise is perfectly acceptable.
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Image1of2(Image credit: Intel)(Image credit: Intel)
Image1of2(Image credit: Intel)(Image credit: Intel)
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(Image credit: Intel)(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
(Image credit: Intel)
On my Arrow Lake test rig, using an MSI MAG Z890 Ace and DDR5-6000 CL30, APO makes absolutely no difference with Cyberpunk 2077. It does improve how well Metro Exodus and Total War: Warhammer 3 run, though not massively so.
So if overclocking, high-speed RAM, and APO can’t bring Arrow Lake’s gaming performance up to a level where it’s competitive against Raptor Lake, let alone AMD’s Zen 5, will Intel’s incoming Windows and BIOS fixes make a huge difference?
That’s certainly possible, especially regarding the firmware on motherboards, as theAsusboard I used for reviewing theUltra 9 285KandUltra 5 245Kwas hugely better in our Factorio test than either of the MSI Z890 boards I have.
Your next upgrade(Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
Your next upgrade
(Image credit: Future)Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
(Image credit: Future)
Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD.Best gaming motherboard: The right boards.Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
There is still lots to like about Arrow Lake—the greatly reduced power consumption and the content creation performance—but I think the architecture is fundamentally just not ideal for gaming. In many ways, Intel’s new design strikes me as being similar toRyzen 3000-series processors, AMD’s first desktop CPUs to use a chiplet design.
Zen 2 and Arrow Lake both have the memory controller in a separate die to the CPU cores, which isn’t great for latency, but AMD is now three generations on from Zen 2 and has improved timings and clock speeds all around to minimise the latency issue. In the case of its 3D V-Cache chips, a massive slab of L3 cache helps out even more.
I hope that Inteldoesmanage to bring Arrow Lake up to the point where it’s a decent enough gaming CPU, if only because most new prebuilt Intel gaming PCs are going to be sporting a Core Ultra 200S chip. But with theRyzen 7 9800X3Dexceeding expectations and selling like proverbial hot cakes, they’re never going to be thebest gaming CPUsmoney can buy.
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More about processorsIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortageLatestToday’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12See more latest►
More about processorsIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortageLatestToday’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12See more latest►
More about processorsIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage
More about processors
If you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage
If you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 off
If you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 off
AMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage
AMD accuses Intel’s Arrow Lake of being a ‘horrible’ product and implies a lack of options for consumers has caused the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shortage
LatestToday’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12See more latest►
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Today’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12
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Today’s Wordle answer for Sunday, January 12
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Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’
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Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans
The Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcements
Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot
Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba
Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’
Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene
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