After beating the Ryzen 9 9950X, the 14900K, 14900KF, and 14900KS in some early benchmarks, the Intel Core Ultra 200S lineup has launched. A lot of eyes are on the Arrow Lake processors due to the issues with the 13th and 14th generation CPUs; however, according to a recent report, the 285K is slower in gaming than the 14900K (and, in turn, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D), and Intel is aware of that.

That said, it doesn't take away from its otherwise impressive single and multi-core performance. With time, we'll see how the real deal performs when we get our hands on it as we test all our CPUs in-house. However, a gaming performance boost is on the way to back it up in the form of APO.

What is APO? 

APO stands for Application Performance Optimization, also known as Intel Application Optimization. It is a tool that optimizes the hardware to perform optimally for some applications, namely games. It is a part of the Intel Dynamic Tuning Technology.

The Intel Core i9 14900K, i7 14700K, and their variants were compatible with this technology, but with the launch of the Arrow Lake processors, it seems that the Core Ultra 9 298K, Core Ultra 7 265K, and 265KF are also able to leverage APO to boost in-game performance.

Does APO improve performance in each title? 

Unfortunately, this technology doesn't work with every title. Here is a list of the supported titles you can use APO with:

• Company of Heroes 3
• Counter-Strike: 2
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Dirt 5
• Dota 2
• Dreams Three Kingdoms 2 (PRC)
• F1 22
• Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker
• Fortnite
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Metro Exodus
• Naraka: Bladepoint
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Riftbreaker
• Serious Sam 4
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Strange Brigade (VLK)
• Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
• Total War: PHAROAH
• Total War: THREE KINGDOMS
• Total War: WARHAMMER 3
• Watch Dogs: Legion
• World of Tanks
• World of Warcraft
• World War Z

While it might not be a huge list right now, it was recently expanded, and with time, it should grow into an extensive library. So, if you were skeptical about getting your hands on the Core Ultra 200S series for gaming, it seems like a little help from the software side can make it better. 

However, AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology still has the upper hand with its massive L3 cache increment. The Core Ultra 200S series might close the distance a bit with the help of software. AMD also has technologies like PBO or Precision Boost Overdrive, which increases the processor’s performance in gaming and other tasks.

On top of that, with more information about the Ryzen 9000X3D CPUs coming forth and their benchmarks available on Cinebench, the Core Ultra 200S lineup would have a difficult time dethroning the best gaming processors series.

That said, if you want the best gaming experience, we recommend going for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which we've reviewed. You can also check out our guide for the best CPU for gaming, which has the top picks.

About the Author

Ussamah Mehmood

Ussamah works as a content writer and editor at BGFG. He is experienced in tech, hardware, gaming, and marketing.