Intel quietly launches IPO program to boost Arrow Lake CPUs

Intel has quietly launched a new performance enhancement program called IPO (Intel Performance Optimizations) in the Chinese market, potentially giving its underperforming Arrow Lake processors a much-needed boost.

According to information shared by hardware leaker UNIKO's Hardware on X (formerly Twitter), the IPO program is currently being deployed in pre-built systems from Chinese manufacturers such as Maxsun. The goal of IPO is to offer a middle ground between running components at stock speeds and manual overclocking, providing enhanced performance along with stability and warranty coverage.

The IPO system works by applying optimized profiles that tune multiple CPU parameters, including P-cores, E-cores, ring-bus frequencies, NGU and D2D interconnects, and power limits (PL1 and PL2), as well as RAM speeds and timings. In one example from Maxsun, the technology delivered a 200 MHz increase in core clock speeds and pushed RAM from DDR5-8000 to DDR5-8400, reportedly resulting in a 10% FPS improvement in games.

The introduction of IPO profiles comes after Arrow Lake's initial launch performance fell short of expectations, with some chips performing worse than their predecessors in certain scenarios. Intel has been working to address these shortcomings through firmware and microcode updates since December, though testing has shown mixed results from these patches.

There are also rumors suggesting that Intel might offer similar "opt-in" BIOS presets for Arrow Lake chips globally in the future, potentially making the current IPO initiative a pilot program for this broader feature. If successful and widely adopted, this could make Arrow Lake systems — especially pre-built ones — a more attractive option against rivals like AMD’s Ryzen 9000 series.

For now, the IPO program is specific to the Chinese market. Sellers like Maxsun are offering PCs featuring this optimization, with warranty coverage reportedly handled by the seller. Details regarding global availability remain scarce as Intel continues its efforts to maximize Arrow Lake's performance.