ASRock Claims Intel Platform Power Management Driver Boosts Core Ultra 200S CPU Gaming Performance on Z890 Motherboards

Using the Intel PPM driver, Intel’s Core Ultra 200S CPUs can modify their frequency and voltage in real-time to enhance efficiency and performance.

In an exciting announcement, ASRock claims that users could see their performance jump by up to 13.23% when using the Intel Platform Power Management driver on Z890 motherboards with Core Ultra 200S CPUs.

ASRock has rolled out support for Intel Platform Power Management with its Z890 motherboard series, thanks to the latest driver update. Since the introduction of the Z890 motherboards alongside Intel’s Core Ultra 200S processors, motherboard manufacturers have been on their toes, frequently pushing out BIOS updates to tweak and fine-tune these processors. ASRock’s latest move with the Intel PPM driver on Windows 11 aims to automate optimizations specifically for the Arrow Lake chips.

ASRock is urging Z890 motherboard owners to grab the Intel PPM driver version 1007.20240913 from the support page for their motherboard. Why? To squeeze more performance out of their Core Ultra 200S CPUs. With Intel PPM in play, adjusting the CPU’s frequency and voltage is now a breeze, leading to smoother operations and possible gains in gaming performance.

The company is touting a performance bump of up to 13.23% in gaming, but details are still a bit sparse. A provided screenshot shows a comparison using Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail, with and without Intel PPM. The game scores were 29,157 points without it and 33,017 points with it at 1080p high settings. The test configuration packed the formidable Core Ultra 9 285K alongside the RX 7900 XTX, flagship offerings from Intel and AMD respectively.

The anticipation is building to see more benchmarks from ASRock Z890 motherboard users. It will be worth watching to understand just how this software enhancement influences gaming performance across various titles. Unlike Intel’s DLVR (Digital Linear Voltage Regulator), the Intel PPM operates at the software level, forging a link between the OS and Intel’s platform-level power management features.

This connection is crucial for transitioning smoothly between high-performance and low-power states, dictated by what the system is working on at any given moment. As a result, this should boost power efficiency in the CPUs while keeping performance at its peak.

(Source: ASRock)