Sunday, September 7th 2025

Intel Brings More APO-Tuned Games to "Arrow Lake" with Up to 14% FPS Increase

by
AleksandarK
 Discuss (42 Comments)
Intel has finally updated its Application Performance Optimization (APO) for its "Arrow Lake" Core Ultra 200S processors. The latest update introduces 15 new titles, which can yield up to a 14% FPS increase, and as much as a 21% increase in 1% lows. Intel has worked hard to deliver these updates, especially since Arrow Lake initially showed disappointing gaming results, which were mainly due to the heterogeneous architecture. Now, the company wants to iron out these issues to bring the best possible gaming performance to owners of the Core Ultra 200S systems. However, these gains don't apply out of the box. Users must install Intel Dynamic Tuning Technology (DTT), but there is also the option to download Intel APO UI from the Microsoft Store.

Users can disable APO globally or selectively disable specific games if the results are not as expected. The current APO stack targets modern Intel Core desktop and mobile processors with six or more performance cores. It requires BIOS enablement of Intel Dynamic Tuning Technology, a recent BIOS revision, and Windows 11. Advanced Mode unlocks wider compatibility for other 12th-generation and newer processors when Intel DTT version 11405 or later is present. Intel cautioned that real-world responsiveness may vary based on system configuration and graphics hardware. Additionally, Intel's promise back in August was to deliver more APO tuning, and this is coming to fruition, especially since many gamers can benefit from a massive increase in FPS and 1% lows for smoother gameplay. Below charts show Intel Core Ultra 9 285K running with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090.
Here is the complete list of the newest, APO-tuned games:
  • 7 Days to Die
  • Assetto Corsa
  • Cities: Skylines
  • Delta Force: Black Hawk Down
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
  • Dyson Sphere Program
  • EA Sports FC 24
  • God of War
  • Kerbal Space Program 2
  • Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
  • Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition
  • The Callisto Protocol
  • Wolfenstein Youngblood
  • World of Warships
  • 蜀山初章
Source: Intel

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42 Comments on Intel Brings More APO-Tuned Games to "Arrow Lake" with Up to 14% FPS Increase

#1
Space Lynx
Astronaut
Not heard of this. Neat. I wonder if AMD will have an equivalent to APO someday now too
Posted on Reply
#2
ZoneDymo
more software to mitigate what I can only assume is a hardware issue? yeah no, no thank you.
Right up there alongside upscaling and framegen etc to mitigate hardware being to weak to run that stuff native.
Posted on Reply
#3
Outback Bronze
Space LynxNot heard of this. Neat. I wonder if AMD will have an equivalent to APO someday now too
Been out since 14900K : )

Just has not been well received/optimized.
Posted on Reply
#4
kondamin
That's nice for the owners of those systems
would have been better if intel put that effort in to making the next generation of processors not prone to these memory and timing issues
Posted on Reply
#5
londiste
What does the APO tuning actually do? Purely a core preference thing?
Posted on Reply
#6
Vya Domus
Needing software that has to be updated regularly to fix performance, awesome.
Posted on Reply
#7
chrcoluk
londisteWhat does the APO tuning actually do? Purely a core preference thing?
My guess is a combination of CPU slicing and affinity tuning.
Posted on Reply
#8
JustBenching
londisteWhat does the APO tuning actually do? Purely a core preference thing?
Allocates every game thread to a particular core instead of having windows scheduler do it's own thing and bounce threads around. That's why it needs a per game optimization, cause every game is different.
Space LynxNot heard of this. Neat. I wonder if AMD will have an equivalent to APO someday now too
They have the built in xbox game bar but its' a lot more simplistic I guess. APO takes it to the next level
Posted on Reply
#9
Dirt Chip
And to think that every high end CPU is capable for such boost, all it take is optimization.
Posted on Reply
#10
phints
Intel patching a year old dead CPU no one uses for gaming with tiny improvements for 3 games no one plays… Cool story bro.
Posted on Reply
#11
overclockedamd
Heck yeah. Bring some competition to the X3D. This gives me even more hope for the upcoming bLLC chips.
Posted on Reply
#12
evernessince
Vya DomusNeeding software that has to be updated regularly to fix performance, awesome.
My thoughts exactly. I'd rather the CPU market not turn into the GPU market where applications require optimizations from the manufacturer. It just opens the door to abuse.
Posted on Reply
#13
tsunami2311
evernessinceMy thoughts exactly. I'd rather the CPU market not turn into the GPU market where applications require optimizations from the manufacturer. It just opens the door to abuse.
It been happen for while.. and probably not going away either. Certian AMD chips need gamebar to be running to ultize they chips correctly now intel is doing it.

I with you though Software out side of what is installed by OS should not be needed
Posted on Reply
#14
JustBenching
phintsIntel patching a year old dead CPU no one uses for gaming with tiny improvements for 3 games no one plays… Cool story bro.
Nobody uses for gaming? Please, elaborate. Im really interested. Arrow lake has identical gaming performance to zen 5. What the heck are you actually suggesting here?
Posted on Reply
#15
phanbuey
i wish they would just specify exactly what APO tuning does, and publish a tool that people can use to tune any executable with. I.E. - park e cores, flag for ultra priority on P cores, change cache allocation for this executable to P cores only etc.

Getting an APO boost on Deus Ex Mankind Divided - a game released in 2016 that ran great anyways is not really necessary - I wish they spent that time doing something more useful. That runs great on a steam deck, i don't think arrow lake really needed that optimization.
Posted on Reply
#16
Tyler-98-W68
ZoneDymomore software to mitigate what I can only assume is a hardware issue? yeah no, no thank you.
Right up there alongside upscaling and framegen etc to mitigate hardware being to weak to run that stuff native.
Kind of like all the people pissing around with thread lasso on x3d chips because they dont use the right CCD?

Yeah that doesn't happen at all
Posted on Reply
#17
tfp
ZoneDymomore software to mitigate what I can only assume is a hardware issue? yeah no, no thank you.
Right up there alongside upscaling and framegen etc to mitigate hardware being to weak to run that stuff native.
You realize things like cache flushing, interrupt handling, prioritization of fastest cores, etc is all implemented in code in the OS or related drivers right?
Posted on Reply
#18
evernessince
tsunami2311It been happen for while.. and probably not going away either. Certian AMD chips need gamebar to be running to ultize they chips correctly now intel is doing it.

I with you though Software out side of what is installed by OS should not be needed
You are referring to AMD dual CCD chips but it's never been required. There's only a few percentage point difference in performance. For those that want the few extra frames, the scheduler is good enough now and one can enable prefer cache in BIOS to get 9800X3D level performance on a 9950X3D.

Nor is that comparable to per game optimizations. Per game optimizations require a constant, large effort. Opening the game bar requires nothing from AMD and isn't shoehorning the market in requiring vendors to optimize their products on a per game basis.
Tyler-98-W68Kind of like all the people pissing around with thread lasso on x3d chips because they dont use the right CCD?

Yeah that doesn't happen at all
It's a really small minority of people that do this to get a couple extra frames. Most people that want the best gaming performance just go single CCD, because they don't need the extra cores and it's cheaper.

Plus with the latest 9000 series dual CCD chips, setting the CPU to prefer cache basically eliminates the issue.
Posted on Reply
#19
InVasMani
Worth noting Intel APO-Tuned is also for 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh as well. Which if I'd read the latter part of article I'd have spotted. :laugh:
Posted on Reply
#21
Dr. Dro
Vya DomusNeeding software that has to be updated regularly to fix performance, awesome.
I mean, the Ryzen X3Ds have this profiling done through the Xbox Game Bar.
phanbueyi wish they would just specify exactly what APO tuning does, and publish a tool that people can use to tune any executable with. I.E. - park e cores, flag for ultra priority on P cores, change cache allocation for this executable to P cores only etc.

Getting an APO boost on Deus Ex Mankind Divided - a game released in 2016 that ran great anyways is not really necessary - I wish they spent that time doing something more useful. That runs great on a steam deck, i don't think arrow lake really needed that optimization.
That's just whatever games the AI told the suit at Intel that "gamers play these days". I mean, look at the original APO's game list. Haha, couldn't be more half hearted.

Posted on Reply
#22
xSneak
Why waste apo tuning on single player games that aren't even in benchmark reviews nowdays?
Posted on Reply
#23
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
phanbueyi wish they would just specify exactly what APO tuning does, and publish a tool that people can use to tune any executable with. I.E. - park e cores, flag for ultra priority on P cores, change cache allocation for this executable to P cores only etc.
They cant. I dont have a 14 series processor anymore, but APO doesnt just work. You need to make sure specific settings are enabled in BIOS. APO touches things deep, it is not just "a scheduler".


You need DTT enabled, here is the app from my current machine.

Posted on Reply
#24
overclockedamd
Im not gonna argue anything other than core series are flipping amazing I mean just amazing for day to day tasks. The fastest pc I have ever touched was a Dell workstation desktop on Intel. Thats straight from a AMD guy.
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