After the i-series processors 2nd generation processors Intel presented the 3rd generation Intel Core processor, code named 'Ivy Bridge', that would power 2012 Ultrabook devices. Intel said phase two of the multi-year, industry-wide Ultrabook vision would begin with the launch of 'Ivy Bridge' next year.
Ivy Bridge, Intel’s 22nm successor to the currently dominant Sandy Bridge generation of processors, has been the subject of most of the talk at IDF this past week. And yet, one of its highlight features managed to go by almost unnoticed: the graphics processor integrated inside the Ivy Bridge chip will be able to decode video at a resolution of up to 4,096 x 4,096. That’s north of 16 megapixels at a time, but don’t get carried away with visions of our supreme HD future just yet. Sandy Bridge, Nehalem's successor, is the code name for a processor microarchitecture developed by Intel at Intel Israel Development Center beginning in 2005 targeting the 32 nm process
. The codename was previously "Gesher" (meaning "bridge" in Hebrew).
Expected Ivy Bridge feature improvements from Sandy Bridge:
Ivy Bridge, Intel’s 22nm successor to the currently dominant Sandy Bridge generation of processors, has been the subject of most of the talk at IDF this past week. And yet, one of its highlight features managed to go by almost unnoticed: the graphics processor integrated inside the Ivy Bridge chip will be able to decode video at a resolution of up to 4,096 x 4,096. That’s north of 16 megapixels at a time, but don’t get carried away with visions of our supreme HD future just yet. Sandy Bridge, Nehalem's successor, is the code name for a processor microarchitecture developed by Intel at Intel Israel Development Center beginning in 2005 targeting the 32 nm process. The codename was previously "Gesher" (meaning "bridge" in Hebrew).
Expected Ivy Bridge feature improvements from Sandy Bridge:- Intel's tri-gate transistor technology, which will significantly reduce power consumption.
- PCI Express 3.0 support.
- Next Generation Intel HD Graphics with DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.1 and OpenCL 1.1 support. The built-in GPU is believed to have up to 16 execution units (EUs), compared to Sandy Bridge's maximum of 12.
- Next Generation Intel Quick Sync Video.
- The new random number generator and the RdRand instruction which is codenamed Bull Mountain.
While Ivy Bridge will be compatible with the Cougar Point chipset motherboards associated with Sandy bridge, Intel will also release a new 7-series Panther Point chipset with Ivy Bridge. This chipset will have integrated USB 3.0 .
(source - Wikipedia - Sandy Bridge )
Ivy Bridge is backwards compatible with existing LGA-1155 motherboards, although there will be a new chipset for Ivy Bridge and new motherboards to enable some features (e.g. PCI Express 3.0, native USB 3.0). The new chipset family falls under the 7-series banner. We'll see Z77, Z75, H77, Q77, Q75 and B75 available at or around launch.
| Chipset Comparison | ||||||||
| Z77 | Z75 | H77 | Z68 | P67 | H67 | |||
| CPU Support | IVB LGA-1155 | IVB LGA-1155 | IVB LGA-1155 | SNB/IVB LGA-1155 | SNB/IVB LGA-1155 | SNB/IVB LGA-1155 | ||
| CPU Overclocking | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| CPU PCIe Config | 1 x16 or 2 x8 or 1 x8 + 2 x4 PCIe 3.0 | 1 x16 or 2 x8 PCIe 3.0 | 1 x16 PCIe 3.0 | 1 x16 or 2 x8 or 1 x8 + 2 x4 PCIe 3.0 | 1 x16 or 2 x8 PCIe 3.0 | 1 x16 PCIe 3.0 | ||
| Processor Graphics Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| Intel SRT (SSD caching) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||
| RAID Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| USB 2.0 Ports (3.0) | 14 (4) | 14 (4) | 14 (4) | 14 | 14 | 14 | ||
| SATA Total (Max Number of 6Gbps Ports) | 6 (2) | 6 (2) | 6 (2) | 6 (2) | 6 (2) | 6 (2) | ||
| PCIe Lanes | 8 (5GT/s) | 8 (5GT/s) | 8 (5GT/s) | 8 (5GT/s) | 8 (5GT/s) | 8 (5GT/s) | ||
Sharing the stage with Microsoft, Intel demonstrated the Windows 8 operating system working and running several applications on Intel-based Ultrabook devices.
