Software bottlenecks are leaving up to 30% of processor performance on the table, according to Intel. While the company doesn’t dismiss the importance of crafting ever-more powerful hardware, it’s keen to highlight that there’s only so much chips can do in the face of poor optimisation.
These claims come from Robert Hallock, Intel VP and GM of its enthusiast channel, during an interview with tech site PC Games Hardware. In the conversation, he boldly states that “there’s always going to be 10, 20, 30% performance hidden behind the fact that that game was just not optimized for your CPU.”
While Hallock doesn’t cite any real-world examples, Intel has demonstrated how software tweaks can improve performance on multiple occasions. While the likes of Thread Director have proven invaluable for processors with heterogeneous cores, the likes of APO (Application Optimisation) and Binary Optimisation push up frame rates in games through a few clicks.
Hallock indicates that we should expect Intel to pursue further improvements through software, either via first-party applications or deeper developer integration. In response to calls to “just make faster hardware,” he says “that’s not the kind of business I want to run,” suggesting that we’d leave plenty of CPU performance behind through such an approach.
“I truly believe that the general PC gaming market, especially enthusiasts, are significantly underestimating the importance of software to the PC experience,” Hallock continues. “There is no game on earth that is as fast as it’s going to be purely through hardware. That used to be the case in 2010, 2015. That is not how gaming works anymore.”
Intel has already confirmed that APO and Binary Optimisation will extend beyond Core Ultra 200S Plus chips, with Nova Lake CPUs likely to support the features. Whether the firm has new software enhancements in mind for upcoming architectures is anyone’s guess.
Not every software change will lead to massive improvements, of course, as our exploration of Core 200S Boost on 270K Plus indicates. Regardless, I’ll welcome any attempts to squeeze more performance through such tweaks if there’s extra horsepower for the taking.
For more processor chat, check out our AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 review. You’ll also find plenty of recommendations in our best CPU guide, where we talk about the top chips on the market today.
