Faster and more efficient Intel Arrow Lake processors

New tests show that Intel's Arrow Lake processors are significantly more powerful and efficient after a year. Software updates have brought 9 % more speed and 15 % less power consumption, indicating the maturity of the platform.

Photo: Intel

Intel's Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors didn't generate much excitement among PC builders when they were released, but new testing shows that the platform has improved significantly in just a year. Software updates have brought increased performance while reducing power consumption.

Recent Linux benchmarks from Phoronix reveal that the Core Ultra 9 285K is now about 9 percent better than last year's release, thanks to software optimizations alone. It's also more efficient. The processor uses about 85 percent less power than its original measurements. In practice, that translates to about 15 % less power.

Phoronix saw no degradation in any of the workloads tested, which included code compilation, data compression, web benchmarks, HPC, and simulations. This suggests that Arrow Lake benefits greatly from improved microcode, kernel tweaks, and compiler-level optimizations.

The main question is how much of these improvements are noticeable in Windows, where most gamers and everyday users run. Intel has already introduced its Application Performance Optimizations (APO) suite, which automatically identifies demanding applications at the driver level and allocates appropriate resources to them. According to Intel, APO has already improved gaming performance in Windows 11 by up to 14 percent in frame rates and up to 21 percent in stability.

Looking ahead, Intel is planning the “Arrow Lake Refresh” series in the first quarter of 2026. These processors will be able to run in a more mature software environment upon release, perhaps even with APO optimizations built in by default.