BIOS Updates Now Available For More Power

There is good news for Christmas for buyers of Intel’s new “Arrow Lake” processors. The first motherboard manufacturers have started to deliver microcode updates to improve the performance of the new chips in the form of BIOS updates.

The fifth building block for more performance is coming

How loud Tom’s Hardware As several social media users noted, the first motherboard manufacturers are now shipping the microcode update known as 0x114 coupled with the CSME 1854v2.2 firmware in the form of BIOS updates. However, these are still beta versions before final editions are to be made available a little later.

The combination is intended to ensure that the gaming performance of the new CPUs in the Intel Core Ultra 200S series increases slightly and thus finally reaches the level promised by Intel at launch. The new processors started with a few problems, which Intel announced they would fix a few weeks ago.

Intel recently gave some details that it wanted to address four out of five major problems immediately. At the same time, the chip giant announced that the microcode and firmware update, now provided as a beta by the motherboard manufacturers, would be delivered in January, taking the fifth and most important step towards eliminating the problems.

Gigabyte, ASUS & Co are faster than Intel planned

Apparently the Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers didn’t wait any longer and have already started delivering the updates. Although the microcode 0x114 was previously made available in beta form, the motherboard manufacturers are now delivering the firmware kit with version 19.0.0.1854v2.2 or higher, which, according to Intel, is essential for solving the problems with the new chips.

Gigabyte, ASRock and ASUS have all started rolling out the refreshed BIOS updates with the new microcode and firmware versions. But they are still betas, which is why Gigabytes distributes through its official website, while ASRock and ASUS distribute through unofficial channels such as Overclock.net and the ASUS’s own ROG forum work.

Since these are beta versions, some of which are distributed via unofficial sources, interested users should exercise some caution. The final versions are expected to appear in the coming days or at the beginning of January.

Then Intel also wants to start introducing new chips from the “Arrow Lake” family during CES 2025, as it has only sold high-end variants so far. The mainboard manufacturers are then likely to introduce new, cheaper mainboards with the B860 chipset, which can be combined with new “Arrow Lake” variants with 65 watts of power loss.