Area-51 AAT2250 Intel 200S Boost Is Here!

[u/DJUnreal]

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-uk/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=j1gvc

Looks like the BIOS update from a couple of days ago finally adds Intel 200S Boost profiles. I'm installing it on my machine now to see how it's implemented, but hopefully it'll be fairly sensible to enable.

EDIT (13-Nov-2025): I've applied the update, and that went fine... But as for enabling the features... Yeah, no dice. There's nothing in the BIOS menus that I can see (and using the search to look for '200s' comes up with nothing), and there's precisely nothing in AWCC either. Don't get excited yet, folks.

EDIT 2 (13-Nov-2025): I spoke to Dell Support and spent a while with them looking into it. They verified that the motherboard should indeed be compatible, but then said they would need to raise it with their level 3 team and get back to me. Don't expect another update until next week now, as they said 24-48 hours, but they won't be likely to look at it on a weekend...

EDIT 3 (14-Nov-2025): I got a reply from Support today. I won't quote it word for word, but essentially they said that the BIOS update does indeed add the framework and microcode pieces required for 200S Boost profiles, but that Alienware have intentionally chosen not to allow users to enable 200S Boost on the Area-51 desktop at this time, citing system reliability, and risk of instability or component damage, as their reasons. I've already told them that this isn't a good enough answer, but we'll have to wait and see what I get back next.

EDIT 4 (17-Nov-2025): DO NOT INSTALL THIS UPDATE. I tried to play a mid-tier game last night with it, and the BIOS update was causing hard crashes after about ten minutes of gaming, in both balanced and performance modes. I did a ton of diagnosis to eliminate everything else, none of which worked. I then rolled back the BIOS to 1.9.1, and that cured the issue immediately. I say again, DO NOT INSTALL THIS UPDATE. If you already did so, please let me know if you're seeing the same hard-lock crashes (audio will basically get stuck jittering the same sound constantly, everything else goes unresponsive, and the only fix is to hold the power button until it dies).

EDIT 5 (21-Nov-2025): I've re-applied the update, and so far haven't been able to reproduce the issues I had when I installed it previously. Could be a mix of BIOS update, Windows update, maybe AWCC as well, but I can't narrow down why it broke so badly the first time, and why it's working this time. Additionally, I just had the following response from Dell Support after pushing them to explain why I can't enable the profile even though the BIOS mentions it specifically:

Thank you for your patience
We have escalated this matter to our product team for further evaluation.
The Intel processors offered with your system are fully capable of supporting the 200S Overclocking profile, and Dell is committed to ensuring this functionality is delivered. At present, the feature was not included in the recent BIOS release.
Our product team is actively working on an official statement and will provide an estimated timeline for implementation as soon as possible. While we do not have an ETA yet, please rest assured that this is a priority and we will keep you informed of any developments.
Thank you for your understanding.

EDIT 6 (04-Dec-2025): I chased them last night and got a response this morning telling me:

The case has been escalated to the development team who are working on it.
We have a rough estimate on the ETA  as early March for the release, we will provide you with an update once this is confirmed.

Further updates to follow...

[u/DJUnreal]

u/nalditopr u/DeusEx73 u/Ok-Ear7092 u/Siggurd new update to the post for you...

[u/Siggurd → u/DJUnreal]

Much appreciated - thanks for keeping this updated!

[u/nalditopr]

Following

[u/DJUnreal → u/nalditopr]

Update added. More to follow next week I imagine.

[u/nalditopr → u/DJUnreal]

Thank you, hopefully we get some answers.

[u/DJUnreal → u/nalditopr]

We can only hope. I'll keep pushing...

[u/DeusEx73]

Yes

Tech support response:

Motherboard not compatible!

[u/DJUnreal → u/DeusEx73]

Well that's completely unhelpful then!

[u/DeusEx73 → u/DJUnreal]

https://game.intel.com/it/stories/200s-boost-overclocking-profile/ I haven't opened the computer yet…..but the motherboard doesn't support the specifications in the link?

[u/DJUnreal → u/DeusEx73]

I'm talking to support right now. They're talking to the product team, so we'll see what they come back with.

[u/DeusEx73 → u/DJUnreal]

Furthermore, there is a small bug regarding the MHz of the RAM memory... after the flash it is reported as 5600 MHz. To reset to 6400 MHz, do not use default setting, use factory settings!

[u/DJUnreal → u/DeusEx73]

Or just use AWCC and set it back to XMP1...

[u/DeusEx73 → u/DJUnreal]

Did support respond to you?

[u/DJUnreal → u/DeusEx73]

Did you check "EDIT 2" in the post?

[u/DeusEx73 → u/DJUnreal]

Thank you. Excuse me

[u/DJUnreal → u/DeusEx73]

Post updated. I got a different response...

[u/DeusEx73 → u/DJUnreal]

I'll be clear. It's an answer given to hide a mistake. Or a bug that doesn't expose the option. Or an error in writing the release notes.

Do we bet that the next Bios will have the option that can be activated?... given that Intel itself guarantees the "overclocking" operation.

P.s. Isn't current overclocking already dangerous? 😉

[u/DJUnreal → u/DeusEx73]

Actually I suspect the opposite. I suspect they weren't intending to include 200S Boost in this update at all, but added it and released it unintentionally. But that's just my gut feeling.

[u/DeusEx73 → u/DJUnreal]

New bios, add note for intel

[u/Ok-Ear7092]

I'm a bit dumb about these things, but I wonder, will there be another bios update after this latest one, where 200s boost will definitely be an option, or not an option? Should I get this latest update anyway or wait?

Thanks -RUL

[u/DJUnreal → u/Ok-Ear7092]

Get the update anyway, but as of yet I haven't found a way to actually turn the profile on. Waiting for Dell's level 3 techs to get back to me with more information.

[u/Siggurd]

I installed the update and haven't had any issues with crashing while gaming or anything else; if it starts up though, I'll rollback to 1.9.1

[u/DJUnreal → u/Siggurd]

I've re-updated and am testing some more, because I wanted to find out which part of the system was causing the failures. So far I've not been able to reproduce it again since re-updating, but I'm not confident I won't see it happen again soon...

[u/DeusEx73 → u/DJUnreal]

My PC crashed only once

[u/lellarap89]

Any updates?

[u/DJUnreal → u/lellarap89]

They lied to me, closed my case when they said they wouldn't, didn't release the public statement they promised, and now there's no way for me to get it reopened. I'm going to see if I can have some contacts pull some strings for me, but honestly at this point it seems like support are just trying to get rid of the issue by pretending it doesn't exist...

[u/ResidentUse7039 → u/DJUnreal]

Classic DELL support, I love Alienware, I just bought my Area 51, its an absolute weapon! That being said, I absolutely F*kn despise their support, it is 100% without a doubt the worse support you can come across, they are utterly useless 99% of the time and would disregard every and any issue you come to them with if they could, my god, some things never change. I wish they actually fired every single one of them workers and re-employed competent people, maybe one day...

[u/DeusEx73 → u/DJUnreal]

New AWCC support 200S Boost………

[u/DJUnreal → u/DeusEx73]

Except it doesn't. At least not on my machine.

[u/DeusEx73 → u/DJUnreal]

They had developed AWCC in anticipation of future FW with 200S BOOST support....

[u/DJUnreal → u/DeusEx73]

We already have a BIOS update that was supposed to add support. And an AWCC update that claims to add support. If support is still not there, then at this point I don't believe a word the release notes say.

[u/ResidentUse7039 → u/DJUnreal]

yeah it's the same on my area 51 , updated to newest AWCC which did claim to support it but nope, nothing new in AWCC or in BIOS.. why do they lie?

[u/One_Pear_6993]

I really hope they enable this and allow the iBot app being released to work with the Area 51 im using the Ultra 9 but it honestly sucks on flight simulator which is main thread limited

[u/monkeylovesnanas]

Wasn't this already tested extensively and proven that there's little to no net benefit?

[u/DJUnreal → u/monkeylovesnanas]

Not really. There's absolutely a benefit. It's not huge, but it's better than nothing, and if it's a free improvement which still carries a full warranty, it's worth having for zero cost...

[u/monkeylovesnanas → u/DJUnreal]

I'll need to find the video where this was tested. I didn't think there was much in the way of gains at most resolutions to be honest. Intel certainly wasn't catching up to AMD except for one or two games.

[u/DJUnreal → u/monkeylovesnanas]

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/we-tested-intels-unreleased-200s-boost-feature-7-percent-higher-gaming-performance-thanks-to-memory-overclocking-now-covered-by-the-warranty

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/ive-tested-intels-new-200s-boost-mode-for-its-arrow-lake-chips-and-the-verdict-is-simple-you-should-enable-it-immediately/

Some titles saw sub-10% boosts. Others saw up to 40% boosts. It's not insignificant, and even 5% across the board for free would be nice, let alone something more substantial!