Intel Ivy Bridge

Ivy Bridge is the codename for Intel's 22 nm die shrink of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture based on tri-gate ("3D") transistors. Ivy Bridge processors will be backwards-compatible with the Sandy Bridge platform, but might require a firmware update (vendor specific). Intel has released new 7-series Panther Point chipsets with integrated USB 3.0 to complement Ivy Bridge.

Intel announced that volume production of Ivy Bridge chips began in the third quarter of 2011. Quad-core and dual-core-mobile models launched on 29 April and 31 May 2012 respectively. Meanwhile, Core i3 desktop processors are said to arrive in the third quarter of 2012.

Ivy Bridge feature improvements over Sandy Bridge include:

• Tri-gate transistor ("3-D") technology (up to 50% less power consumption at the same performance level as 2-D planar transistors).
• PCI Express 3.0 support.
• Max CPU multiplier of 63 (57 for Sandy Bridge).
• RAM support up to 2800 MT/s in 200 MHz increments.
• The built-in GPU will have 6 or 16 execution units (EUs), compared to Sandy Bridge's 6 or 12.
• Intel HD Graphics with DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.1, and OpenCL 1.1 support.OpenGL 4.0 is supported with 9.17.10.2792 WHQL drivers and later drivers.
• A new random number generator and the RdRand instruction, codenamed Bull Mountain.
• DDR3L and Configurable TDP for mobile processors.
• Multiple 4K video playback.
• Intel Quick Sync Video.