It’s no secret that Intel’s latest Arrow Lake-S CPUs, officially known as the Intel Core Ultra 200 series, didn’t quite meet the expectations of gamers and enthusiasts at launch. In many cases, they even trailed behind the previous-generation 14th Gen Core CPUs. While Intel soon acknowledged potential gains through microcode updates, the much-anticipated 0x114 patch ultimately fell short of delivering a meaningful boost.

Now, several months into the lifecycle of the Core Ultra 200 series, the picture has changed. Ongoing updates—including new microcode, Windows patches, and GPU driver revisions—have collectively helped unlock noticeable performance improvements across the board.

The 1% low frame rate gain here is the most substantial in all the games tested and while not shown here, these numbers are a little better than what the 14th Gen Core 14700K offered at the same settings.

Dragon Age – The Veilguard shows the most impressive gains across, in all tested titles. The updates are well worth installing for users of the 200 series

Forza Horizon 5 at the chosen settings doesn’t show the same significant improvements, but they are notable nonetheless. 

This is a tricky one, because this title is perpetually getting updates, but at the time of testing the 1.318 update tested on both the new and old microcode showed healthy gains

The results shared here, though limited to just three game titles, offer a glimpse into where Ultra 200 performance stands today versus launch day. In particular, the most significant gains appear in the 1% low frame rates, where the CPUs initially struggled the most. Here, we’re seeing improvements of up to 20%, a substantial uplift that enhances the overall gameplay experience. Average frame rates have also improved, albeit more modestly, showing gains of just under 7%—still a welcome enhancement.

Had the Intel Core Ultra 200 series CPUs delivered this level of performance out of the gate, the reception would likely have been far more favorable. That said, these improvements reflect not only Intel’s efforts but also the contributions of its ecosystem partners in optimizing the platform through consistent software updates.

While the future trajectory remains uncertain, it’s reasonable to expect the upcoming 300 series CPUs to benefit directly from the lessons learned here. If nothing else, they’re poised to launch with a more refined and optimized ecosystem. In the meantime, credit where it’s due: Intel and its software partners have done a commendable job addressing early bottlenecks. Here’s to even more gains in Ultra 200 performance in the months ahead.