Just yesterday we told you that Intel had launched a new microcode for your processors Core Ultra 200S which, in conjunction with the latest patches for the Windows operating system, solved poor performance problems in games. So, we have set to work to test for ourselves to what extent this microcode is effective or not, and in this article we show you the results of our own tests.
According to Intel, the new firmware for its processors (which we must install by updating the motherboard BIOS) will make us gain between 3-8% performance in games, and the promise is that now the new generation processors will work as they should. made at the time of its release at the end of October.
How to install the new Intel microcode
As we already mentioned in yesterday’s article and we mentioned in passing a moment ago, the new microcode for the Intel Core Ultra 200S is installed through an update to the motherboard BIOS. So, the first step is to access the manufacturer’s website and see if they already have the new BIOS available; As you can see in the following screenshot, in our case we use an ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z890 APEX in the test bench, it is already available. You have to make sure that in the version data it indicates that the microcode 0x114.
So, what you have to do is download the new BIOS and install it. In our case, we prefer the typical system of putting the BIOS on a USB pen drive and updating from the BIOS itself. It is a simple process that only takes about 5 minutes.
After doing so, it’s time to check if we have the latest Windows updates installed. Since we only turn on the test bench when we are going to use it, we had to wait a while for all the updates to be downloaded and installed, but after a while we already had Windows 11 completely updated and ready to go.
With these two things done, according to Intel’s instructions we already have the computer with the gaming performance problem solved, so the time has come to put it to the test.
Gaming performance analysis with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
We have carried out the performance tests with our usual test bench. Also, since it’s been about two months since we reviewed the Core Ultra 9 285K, we repeated the tests just before installing the motherboard BIOS and updating Windows, so we have exact gaming performance results before and after. after.
The hardware used for the test was the following:
- Intel Core Ultra 9 285K @stock
- ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z890 APEX
- 2x24GB G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 7,200 MHz
- Noctua NH-D15 G2
- TeamGroup Cardea A440 Pro 2 TB
- Corsair Obsidian 4000D Airflow
- Corsair RM1000x Swift
- PNY GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER
As this is not an exhaustive analysis but we simply wanted to see whether or not there is a performance gain in games using the new Intel microcode, we have only tested it in a couple of games. 1440p resolutionmeasuring the FPS as always using NVIDIA FCAT and taking the average FPS as data. Oh, with the graphics settings at maximum, of course.
This has been the result:
As you can see, the performance gain is not such. Intel promised between 3 and 8% improvement in FPS in games, and the reality is that according to our tests there are no noticeable changes. But nothing at all, the tenths that have been won or lost are so marginal that they fall within the margins of error.
So, the conclusion is this: Intel’s new microcode does not fix anything at all. Don’t bother installing it.