Intel’s next generation Ivy Bridge processors are expected to come out in the April-May timeframe in 2012. However, you do not have to wait that long to know about them. A detailed list of all the up coming models including their launch date, cores, threads and other crucial details has already been leaked on to the web. And the verdict simple — hold your Intel powered purchases until next year.
These processors are going to be in the forefront for Windows 8 machines, appearing on everything from traditional desktops and notebooks to Ultrabooks and even tablets. Ivy Bridge processors succeed the Sandy Bridge generation and are different in regard to the manufacturing process and design. These will be the first ’3D’ transistors built with Intel’s industry leading 22-nm manufacturing process. When compared side by side with Intel’s first ever chip — the 4004 (1971) — this 22nm process manufactured chip runs over 4,000 times faster and each of its transistors uses 5,000 times less energy. What’s more, the price factor has dropped by a factor of 50,000. These are facts straight from an Intel fact sheet and put things in quite the perspective.
Given the way the industry is set up right now, Intel’s Ivy Bridge will become almost omnipresent in Apple’s MacBooks and all the varied Ultrabook models that will be released in 2012. This way, it will likely become the mainstay of Windows 8 by the time it is released next year.
Looking at the models in the list, there’s one that looks quite interesting — the 3427U. It is very likely to be chosen for most of the Ultrabooks and even their competitor the MacBook Air from Apple. That’s because this model or one related to it is going to be the most power efficient processor in Intel’s arsenal. Rated at just 17watts, it will definitely prove to be quite the battery saver.
Intel is well aware of the competition that ARM chips will pose and they have been working very hard to remain competitive. These processors are a lot more compact and have more components than there predecessors. Instead of being just the CPU and some basic components, Ivy Bridge processors carry both the CPU and the GPU along with the memory controller and some more components. So even though Intel processors have been similarly power efficient in the past, they have never had this many components on the chip. Neither did they have the number of transistors that Ivy bridge processors will have. These processors are hence more similar to SoC’s in their design than what we have traditionally come to see as chips for mainstream computers.
