ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF Gets Intel Microcode Update 0x114 Before Official Launch

Recently, user Nickshih shared the early Intel 0x114 microcode update on Overclock Forums. However, the specific changes introduced by this update remain unclear, as users must perform a complete BIOS update to fully utilize the patch.

Intel’s 0x114 Microcode Patch for Z890 Motherboards

Intel’s development team has been working on the 0x114 microcode patch for their Arrow Lake processors following their launch, aimed at addressing the gaming performance concerns that emerged during the release. Today, ASRock’s Z890 Taichi OCF motherboard has become the first to incorporate this patch, despite its unofficial status.

Currently, you won’t find the 0x114 microcode on any official Z890 motherboard support pages. Instead, Nickshih made it available on Overclock Forums. Another forum member reported applying the patch on an ASUS ROG Maximus Z890 Apex motherboard, but initial synthetic benchmark results have not revealed any noticeable performance improvements.

Cinebench R23 Core Ultra 9 285K 0x114 — Image Credit: Overclock.net

Feedback from users suggests there are currently no observable CPU performance enhancements post-update. This may be attributed to the premature timing of the patch, as an official BIOS update is still pending. For instance, one user noted a decrease in clock speeds on the Core Ultra 9 285K, which resulted in reduced performance on Cinebench R23 tests, dropping from around 48,000 points in multicore performance to just over 45,000 points.

Despite these setbacks, the same user achieved over 10,000 MT/s memory speeds with two DDR5 RAM sticks. While this isn’t entirely surprising for the ASRock Z890 Taichi OCF, it underscores the motherboard’s capabilities and reinforces a world record previously reported. To fully assess the potential implications of the 0x114 microcode on gaming performance, an official BIOS update is crucial.

It remains uncertain if the delay in noticeable performance improvements is simply due to the launch timing of the patch or if the anticipated gaming performance boosts are too minimal to detect. As Intel aims for the Core Ultra 200S to deliver performance on par with the upcoming 14th generation CPUs, enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting further developments.

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