Intel Arrow Lake CPUs: Performance Disappointments and Gaming Benchmarks

Intel’s Arrow Lake CPUs have been in the spotlight since their release in October 2024. Promising cutting-edge performance, the series—including the crown jewel, the Core Ultra 9 285K—was expected to dominate benchmarks and redefine gaming and productivity capabilities. But here we are, three months into a wave of firmware, BIOS, and Windows updates, only to find that the improvements (if you can call them that) leave a lot to be desired. In fact, in some games, performance has worsened. Let’s break it down.

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First, What's Wrong With Arrow Lake?​

For the uninitiated, Arrow Lake is Intel's successor to Raptor Lake CPUs. At launch, it became painfully obvious that Arrow Lake didn’t deliver as expected. Gaming benchmarks revealed slower performance not just compared to AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D—a seemingly invincible rival with its 3D V-Cache—but even against its predecessor, Raptor Lake.

Enter Firmware and Windows Updates​

To address these shortcomings, Intel rolled out ecosystem-wide fixes:

• BIOS updates: These are low-level firmware updates that directly control CPU interactions with the motherboard. These are essential for setting clock speeds, managing voltages, and enabling new features.
• Intel Application Optimizer (APO): A tool Intel introduced to optimize thread scheduling and boost performance in select games.
• Windows 11 24H2: Microsoft incorporated specific fixes to improve CPU scheduling for Arrow Lake processors.

But despite these updates, the results seem underwhelming.

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The Gaming Benchmarks: A Rollercoaster of Disappointment​

The Core Ultra 9 285K went through a meticulous round of benchmarking in popular titles—Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3, Metro Exodus Enhanced, and more. Let’s break it down game-by-game.

1. Cyberpunk 2077​

The neon-drenched streets of Night City make great use of a powerful CPU, and while Arrow Lake seemed to improve slightly:

• Average Frame Rate: Increased by 15%
• 1% Lows (minimum frame rates): Improved by 12%

It’s a modest win, but Arrow Lake barely matches AMD’s Ryzen 9800X3D in this test, and it still falls short of Intel’s older i9-14900K—a massive disappointment for a "next-gen" chip.

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2. Baldur's Gate 3​

Here’s where things take a real dip:

• Average Frame Rate: A meager 2% boost.
• 1% Lows: An ominous 19% decline!

This means that the game feels hitchy and inconsistent despite the mild average improvement. Even with tools like Intel’s Application Optimizer, there was no clear culprit detected in the drop.

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3. Metro Exodus Enhanced​

A rare ray of sunshine (pun intended) for Arrow Lake:

• Average Frame Rate: A 9% bump.
• 1% Lows: A minor improvement of 5%.

While this is undoubtedly better, the Ryzen 9800X3D continues to overshadow Arrow Lake, touting its V-Cache as the secret sauce for gaming.

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4. Total War: Warhammer III​

If you’re planning your conquests in this strategy behemoth, beware:

• Average Frame Rate: A curious 20% boost.
• 1% Lows: A catastrophic 37% drop.

This might look good in benchmarks but would feel incredibly frustrating during gameplay. That level of instability isn’t what gaming enthusiasts expect from a $600 processor.

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5. Factorio​

In this CPU-bound factory simulator, the results seemed misleading at first:

• Testing improvements came down to BIOS-related bugs. Fixes returned processing times to normal, but performance hasn’t improved beyond pre-patch levels.

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Intel Application Optimizer: Great in Theory, Mediocre in Execution​

Intel's APO tool was touted as a game-changer. This scheduler works by prioritizing threads for optimized performance in specific games like Cyberpunk 2077, Metro Exodus, and Total War: Warhammer 3. Yet, the results are disappointing:

• In Cyberpunk 2077, APO reduced performance in 1% lows by 11%.
• Gains in Metro Exodus were negligible.
• Warhammer III saw some improvement in lows, but that's small solace when the base performance is worse overall.

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Arrow Lake’s Broader Implications and What It Means for Users​

1. Pricing Strategy​

At launch, the Core Ultra 9 285K debuted at $600. Three months and minimal fixes later, it’s still $600. Meanwhile, AMD’s Ryzen 9800X3D is the clear gaming champion but suffers from limited availability, driving its prices higher. Yet even in scarcity, Arrow Lake hasn’t managed to make itself the more desirable alternative—it simply doesn’t offer enough bang for the buck.

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2. Productivity Performance: The Silver Lining​

While gaming results are mixed, Intel hasn’t fumbled entirely. Arrow Lake remains exceptional for:

• Content Creation: Software like Blender and Handbrake still showcase impressive multi-threaded performance.
• Productivity Applications: Tools such as Cinebench and 7zip benefit from Arrow Lake’s raw horsepower.

Of course, spending $600 for content creation alone doesn’t make very much sense given similarly priced options like Intel's own Raptor Lake chips or AMD's Ryzen 7000-series processors.

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3. Windows 11 24H2: Could Microsoft Be a Bottleneck?​

This update came with its own quirks. Not just Arrow Lake, but other systems, showed performance quirks post-update. Minimum frame rates (1% lows) seemed universally worse in tests across multiple setups. Windows and Intel need to iron out their coordination since OS-level scheduling plays a critical role in gaming.

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Is There Any Hope for Arrow Lake?​

With severe issues in game-specific performance (particularly 1% lows), gamers should look away from Arrow Lake for now. The 9800X3D is the undisputed champion for gaming thanks largely to its innovative 3D V-Cache. On the Intel front, cheaper alternatives like the Core Ultra 7 265K deliver almost identical gaming performance at a significantly lower cost.
If you're willing to wait, the next crop of CPUs—AMD's Strix Halo or Intel’s Nova Lake—might remedy the current situation. After all, patience costs less than a $600 regret.

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Conclusion: Arrow Lake's Legacy—Mediocre at Best​

In gaming, Intel's Arrow Lake feels like a half-baked attempt to reclaim the throne from AMD. While patches and updates brought slight improvements, the promised "fixes" have failed to deliver meaningful change. At its steep launch price, the 285K isn’t worth your gaming dollars, and with AMD stealing the gaming crowd’s attention, Intel will need to rethink its strategy.
If you’re upgrading, wait for competition to heat up later this year—or snag an older, cheaper CPU that still punches above its weight. Arrow Lake might just be a bridge too far.

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Source: PC Gamer https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/arrow-lakes-had-three-months-of-windows-and-bios-updates-to-fix-its-performance-and-my-testing-shows-in-some-games-its-worse/