Those of us running Intel CPUs have had a bit to worry about in recent years. The company has not been doing too well with huge losses, layoffs, and disappointments surrounding some of its recent technologies. Anyone keeping an eye on the Intel Application Optimisation tool (APO) may have also noticed there's been a lack of updates, once again worrying consumers about the potential of their Intel chip.
Well you wouldn't be alone, but we've just had some reassurances that this tech is still being worked on to optimise your Intel CPU.
Intel's APO tool came about after the lackluster performance of Intel's 14th Gen processors, aka the Raptor Lake refresh. It was also applied to the following underperforming Arrow Lake release, and to older chips too. It's a piece of software built directly into the drivers that does exactly what it says on the tin: optimise applications to run on the faster P-cores on these chips.
It works at least in part by helping to manage threads in some games and allocate them directly to be processed on the faster cores in Intel's current hybrid architecture. Essentially APO is a tool to make games run better on these CPUs, and some gamers have been hanging out for these improvements.
WWCFTech spotted some of these gamers on Intel's Reddit, asking about future updates to the APO. Given the current state of Intel, many suspected the project had been canned or the team behind it fired, but an Intel engineer going by the username Aaron_McG_Official has assured folks their fears can be put to rest.
"We are still 100% vested in APO and in growing the capabilities of the technology. You should see an update per the ~quarterly release cadence shortly." Says Aaron_McG_Official in the Reddit thread.
They also point out an update was released back in May, and states that a new update should be due out soon. Only a few games are added to the list each time so the progress can feel super slow, especially for someone waiting on a specific game they're dying to have run better. This seems to support Aaron_McG_Official's statements that APO is more than just assigning P-cores, as it seems it has to be made bespoke for different tasks and configurations.
The results delivered vary widely, with some people finding huge boons and others noticing little to no difference. Users are also reporting having difficulty getting the APO to work even with one of the 50 games that are on the list.
Thankfully Aaron_McG_Official had some advice here too. If a game that should be on the list isn't, they recommend you check your settings as often non stock configurations can reduce compatibility. It could also be that your particular CPU and game aren't compatible, hopefully with a heavy "yet" implied.
There is bad news here for folks with older chips. Our Intel engineer has also stated the company isn't working on APO for 12th and 13th Gen chips at the moment. Instead the focus is clearly on current and future generations of hardware. Given the complex nature and how slowly we are already seeing games added to the list, it seems Intel has made the decision to focus these efforts where it feels will be most valuable.
For those running a compatible chip, it could be worth checking out what APO has to offer, especially when the new update rolls out. Hopefully we'll see further performance boons that make owning a hybrid CPU worthwhile for gamers who've already forked out the cash for one.
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