![]() ![]() Rather than rolling out a bunch of new CPU models with higher clock speeds in the traditional power bands, Intel has elected to reduce desktop power envelopes and hold clock speeds more or less steady. That reality, perhaps combined with the changing dynamics of the PC market, appears to have driven Intel to make an unusual decision with Ivy Bridge: to realize 22-nm process tech improvements in the form of power reductions, not speed increases, for its desktop processors. Desktop CPUs are probably approaching the hairy end of the frequency-voltage curve for 22-nm chips, where exponential growth in power consumption really begins to ramp up. At clock speeds approaching 4GHz and their accompanying voltage levels, the advantages offered by Intel’s 22-nm process are more modest. The claims cited above were expressly made about operation at relatively low voltages and clock speeds compared to those of current desktop CPUs. These things are well and good, of course, but the trick is how they’ll translate into desktop processors like the Core i7-3770K we’re reviewing today. The new transistors can deliver even larger power savings at the same operating speed as 32-nm chips the firm has claimed power reductions of over 50% in that case. There’s another way to capitalize on the process improvements, too. Intel has claimed these new transistors offer “up to 37 percent performance increase at low voltage versus Intel’s 32nm planar transistors,” a property its had said will prove especially useful for “small handheld devices” like smart phones, whose low-power chips should be able to operate at considerably higher clock speeds. In order to make that happen, the firm has fundamentally rebuilt the transistor using a three-dimensional structure that it calls the tri-gate transistor. Meanwhile, Intel is at least one full generation ahead by shipping 22-nm Ivy Bridge chips in volume today. Those pesky laws of physics are becoming ever more difficult to navigate at the nanometer level, which is why companies like GlobalFoundries (which makes AMD CPUs) and TSMC (which makes GPUs for both AMD and Nvidia) are still struggling to produce enough chips with the right characteristics at the 32/28-nm level. The drum-beat of Moore’s Law has continued apace only because Intel and others have sunk billions into the development of new chipmaking techniques, and these transitions are getting harder to achieve each time. This conversion is not at all trivial, even though Intel has made regular work of transitioning to new fabrication processes every couple of years. Don’t zone out when you hear those words, folks. The biggest change here is the transition from a 32-nm fab process with Sandy to a 22-nm process for Ivy. Ivy has been an intriguing test subject, and we hope to show you some things about her that you won’t learn anywhere else. We’ve had Ivy Bridge on the test bench here in Damage Labs for some time now, and we’ve focused most of our efforts on devising-and executing-new methods of testing CPUs. ![]() Much of what follows is our attempt to distill a vast amount of information about Ivy Bridge down to the most relevant details and then to poke and prod this new chip to see how it compares. Still, I see no reason not to give you the simple answer up front. The changes to Ivy Bridge’s integrated graphics are sweeping, for example, and there are a multitude of other tweaks worthy of note. ![]() This new CPU is an incremental refinement of Sandy Bridge its benefits are a slight jump in performance and a somewhat larger reduction in power consumption. And, truth be told, that’s pretty much the case with Ivy Bridge. Sometimes, beneath all of the complexity, the scuttlebutt on a new chip is pretty simple. However, I’ve been reviewing CPUs for quite a while now, and I’ll let you in on a little secret. We’re practically bursting with info to share with you. To that, we’ve added a boatload of test results comparing Ivy Bridge to her contemporaries. ![]() Intel has handed over vast amounts of detail about its new chip, the products based on it, and their dizzying arrays of features. The release of any new microprocessor comes with a tremendous amount of complex information, and Ivy is certainly no exception. Yes, folks, today Intel is introducing the long-anticipated new CPU code-named Ivy Bridge. ![]()
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