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Ivy Bridge: Intel's First 22 nm Processor

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Rahul
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Snapshot

Price: To be declared

Key Specs: 22nm tri-gate transistor technology, 3.50 GHz, 4 Core 8 Threads, 77 TDP, compatible with LGA1155

Write to: pcquest@cybermedia.co.in with the name of the product in the subject line for more info.

Intel recently launched its 3rd generation processor, code named Ivy Bridge, and we got hold of one Core i7 3770 K in our labs. Before we talk about its performance, let's discuss what's unique about this family of processors. There are plenty of changes Intel has done, right from the transistor level and it seems it wont be too long before we get new devices powered by this family of processors.

Intel Core i7 3770K Features

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The 3rd generation Intel processors are based on 22nm tri-gate transistor technology. These transistors employ a single gate, which is stacked on top of two vertical gates allowing for essentially three times the surface area for electrons to travel. This translates to less power consumption and higher speed of processing as compared to the predecessors. Intel Core i7 3770K features 4 physical cores capable of handling 8 threads using Hyperthreading technology. The clock speed of this processor is 3.50 GHz which could be boosted up to 3.90 GHz, which is higher than any similar 2nd generation processor. The performance boost does not mean increased power consumption. The processor we received has max TDP (Thermal Design Power or maximum heat a cooling system needs to dissipate for smooth functioning of the processor) of 77 W which is very low when compared to predecessors. The other area where the 3rd generation has been given a face lift is in integrated graphics. The Ivy Bridge family features Intel HD Graphics 4000 (and 2500) for better graphics performance and support for DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.1 and Shader Model 4.1.

Performance Results

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The sample test setup used to test this processor included the Intel DZ77GA-70K motherboard (reviewed in box). Besides the motherboard, other components used for test setup include 1 GB DDR3 RAM, 120 GB HDD with 7200 RPM, Radeon HD 6850 graphics card, and Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit operating system. To check performance we used three benchmarks: 3D Mark 06, PC Mark Vantage, and CineBench release 11.5. In the graphics benchmark the overall score of 24,388 3D Marks at 1280x800 resolution is very high but keep in mind that this score also includes performance of the attached graphics card. When we looked at the CPU sub score we found it was 7159 3D Marks which again is very high but better than the CPU sub score of the AMD FX8150, reviewed in PCQuest, April 2012 issue. Moving from graphics capability to overall PC performance, the PC Mark Vantage benchmark gave a good score of 8184 PC Marks, which means your office apps would run smoothly. So, here as well Intel Core i7 3770K performs better than AMD FX8150. Finally when we checked performance of the CPU with CineBench, where we got a score of 6.98 pts. This is more than the scores generated for Core i7 (4 core 8 thread, 3.20 GHz processor) and AMD FX8150—5.48 and 5.73 pts—respectively.

Bottomline: One of the best processors money can buy with solid performance, lesser power consumption, and improved graphics.

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