The last thing Intel needs right now is more CPU instability woes, especially after the 13th & 14th gen fiasco. Team Blue’s latest range of processors is the Core Ultra 200S series, which debuted late last month with the flagship Intel Core Ultra 9 285K alongside the 265K and 245K. You may have remembered a relatively long process of microcode updates to set things straight with the previous generations.

So, it goes without saying that Core Ultra instability is exactly what Intel doesn’t need right now, but early reviewers did touch on the issue being a potential worry. A month has passed since then, and a new rumor suggests that Intel is playing it safe and plans to roll out an instability patch for Arrow Lake (the codename for its latest series of processors).

Arrow Lake Voltage Frequency behavior could change in a microcode update

According to a member of the ASUS overclocking team, Pieter Plaisier (SkatterBencher on X), “big changes” are coming to Arrow Lake VF (Voltage Frequency) behavior. This will likely come in the form of a new microcode update via the uCode package. Intel was aware of some kind of issue with Arrow Lake CPUs back when they launched, as made apparent by an interview with Intel’s Robert Hallock. He made it clear that performance was “not what we expected and not what we intended.”

Plasiser suggests that the microcode update could make it more difficult to overclock optimally – or at least “determine the OC strategies” since behavior will vary depending on the ME package. Intel’s previous microcode updates for the 14th and 13th-gen chips were heavily involved with voltage setting tweaks. For example, the 0x12B patch addressed “elevated voltage requests by the processor” in response to the Vmin Shift instability issue.

We’ve witnessed AMD’s CPU sales being miles better than Intel’s recently as both rival brands come out with new processors. CPUs like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D have flourished, leaving the 200S series in the dust. With that in mind, any further setbacks to Intel’s CPU sales could spell serious trouble. We see the new series as a necessary refresh, but the fact you’ll need to pick up a new Z890 motherboard is a damper, and Intel squashing any voltage-related bugs is a must if they want the new CPUs to sell.

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Intel Core Ultra 9 285K

4 /5

Editor’s Rating

How We Review

Specifications

• Cores: 24
• Threads: 24
• Boost clock speed: 5.7GHz
• Base clock speed: 3.7GHz P-cores/3.2GHz E-cores
• L3 Cache: 36MB
• TDP: 125W base/250W max
• Platform: LGA 1851 (Arrow Lake)

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About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.