The first thing many people will do when they get their new Ivy Bridge CPU is (what else?) overclock it. We have a G.Skill DDR3-2666 kit in testing and, whew, are those things fast. Now, I’m not sure if that means DDR3-1600 or DDR3-3200, but what I can tell you is – yowza – do these things have insane memory controllers. One very important thing to note is the memory speed capability – “Up to 1600 MHz”. With full backwards-compatibility, I think it’s time to let SATA II go now, don’t you? I can’t fathom why Intel continues to buck the trend and leave us with only two current-generation SATA ports. AMD has had six SATA 6Gb/s ports for two chipset generations now. Still – still – Intel only has two SATA 6Gb/s ports available. This is more than capable for pretty much anybody that wants to run two GPUs – eight PCIe 3.0 lanes is equivalent to sixteen PCIe 2.0 lanes. The graphics interface is now PCIe 3.0, with 16x lanes available total. The latter loses Thunderbolt capability and removes Rapid Storage Technology (RST). The PCH on the left (Z77) is where most overclockers will hang their hat, with some budget-minded, more frugal folks going the Z75 route. Here we have the more detailed block diagrams describing how everything is doled out with the three new Platform Controller Hubs (PCH) and the 3rd generation Core CPUs. I can confirm that the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z is perfectly ready for Ivy Bridge. You’ll lose some of the features (most importantly, PCIe 3.0 in some cases), but it will work without issue assuming your motherboard manufacturer releases a proper BIOS update. Frankly, the chances of it usurping USB’s hold on the market is slim to zero, but hey if anyone wants an alternative to the now-dated FireWire, here you go.įor everything but memory capability (and only at the very extreme end of that spectrum), the 6-series chipset is completely compatible with Ivy Bridge CPUs. It also gives new support for Intel’s Thunderbolt interface. The 7-series chipsets retain Intel’s Smart Response Technology that debuted with the Z68 chipset, which is a boon to those who can’t afford a large SSD. There are only “up to four” USB 3.0 lanes available, but it’s there finally. Even the X79 chipset lacked USB 3.0 for some reason or another, necessitating third-party controllers. The good part is that this is Intel’s first native USB 3.0 chipset. The 7-series Panther Point chipset is Intel’s newest and it adds some things the 6-series lacked, while staying lackluster in others. We’ll probably explore the iGPU performance later, but this review is all about processing power. On the right we have more details about the iGPU. Let’s say the change to this transistor type flips the lid on the whole temperature-and-process-shrink paradigm.

The implications are interesting for overclockers in daily use, which we’ll be sure to check out in detail below. For more information on 3D Tri-Gate transistors, check out this page at Intel. 22nm Processīefore moving on though, we have the requisite eye candy from some images courtesy Intel.Īs mentioned, this is Intel’s (and anyone else’s as far as I know) first use of a 3-D transistor. By comparison, Sandy Bridge had a die size of 216 mm² and 995 million transistors. The Ivy Bridge CPU comes in a pretty small 160 mm² package with a hefty 1.4 billion transistors. Speaking of the iGPU, they boosted its performance partially with shared cache between the CPU and iGPU. Our audience doesn’t exactly use the iGPU for graphics, but the upgrade should come with a decent boost for software that can use it in conjunction with Lucid’s VIRTU software. They also upgraded their iGPU and the platform comes with a new 7-series chipset.

Ivy Bridge is a tick in this cadence, which is a process shrink to an existing micro-architecture. If you are erudite about Intel’s strategy, you know they have a tick-tock strategy that they somehow manage to keep to like, um, clockwork. Ivy Bridge Time Bridge Over the River Ivy – Ivy Bridge Architecture Will we see any performance increase or just the standard lower power and better temperatures? Sit back and relax while we cross the Ivy Bridge. It’s the Sandy Bridge micro-architecture with a new 22 nm twist. Intel is back today with a new CPU manufacturing process at 22 nm using their new 3D Tri-Gate transistor design.

Ivy bridge core i7