Intel Delays 22nm Ivy Bridge Processor to April/May 2012

Core i7 3770K tested

Intel Core i5-2550K

Prices of Ivy Bridge desktop CPUs

Core i5 3450 RM585
Core i5 3550 RM652
Core i5 3570K RM716
Core i7 3770 RM935
Core i7 3770K RM1056

Aim for 5.5GHz+.

It is supposed to come by April next year but don't invest on something that is uncertain as there will be newer 7 series boards(Z77,Z75,H77) with more features and will definitely support IB.

Obviously. It is a shrink, not a revamp of the architecture.

No less than 5GHz or at least more than enough to make you jelly till you get one.

That's a suicide run. Most users even with watercooling should not exceed 1.4V max with IB.

I'm not surprised if IB had a little problem with temps. Probably people were so surprised that SB clocked well that they would come to expect it to progress to even higher with every generation. It can be due to the process still in its early stage and could improve when Haswell comes out, that is if there are people willing to bet on waiting for another year. Have yet to consider the fact that the die is actually smaller with IB and less surface area for heat to dissipate and the increase in power density of the chip. If you're getting IB, your best bet is to stick to 4.5GHz or less, 4.6GHz possible and near or less than 1.3V should be quite safe provided that you have a beefy cooler like the Noctua NH-D14 or similar.

This post has been edited by dma0991: Apr 13 2012, 11:16 PM

I don't think there is anything more to be mastered with their Trigate. It has existed with them for nearly 10 years, since 2002. They could have ironed out the issues during that time period and the heat might just be an issue that we would have to accept. As for Haswell, it would definitely be a lot better, according to my sources. It sounds like I'm stating the obvious but Haswell should improve but I'm not quite sure what they could do in a year. I'm already impressed with the fact that Intel is the first fab to actually do a production ready 22nm model while others are still struggling with 28nm.

I regard 4.5GHz to be the most common frequency that people would be able to reach with SB, anything extra is pure luck or you're willing to compromise lifespan for a few hundred extra MHz. As for 4.5GHz IB, it should have better results than a 4.5GHz SB. A 4.6GHz Core i5 3570K should have similar performance as a 4.9GHz Core i5 2500K, so I think a new IB based rig or upgrade to from SB is good provided that you have a SB that doesn't do well above 4.5GHz and you have some decent cooling.

There is about 8% increase in performance per clock from SB to IB. It is a testament from users who already have a Core i5 3570K and comparing it against SB which resulted in giving the same results in benchmarks. It is concluded that IB at a slightly lower clock speed will yield better results. It may not be a new architecture but some minor improvements have been made to justify purchasing the CPU. Do you really think Intel is going to sell to the users based on the premise that you save 18W if you upgrade to IB? For desktop users, power consumption isn't that big of a deal, so is the IGP which might never get used in the first place.

If you are already using a Core i5 2500K, totally not worth it to upgrade to any IB processors, Core i5 3570K and Core i7 3770K. I think it is best for those who don't own a rig yet or their previous rig isn't a SB based, according to the 'upgrade every other generation' method. Since you're looking for something that is akin to a Core i7 2700K, I suggest against that and wait it out for Haswell since it is so close and from what I've heard so far are good news about it except for the heat issue with 22nm Trigate etc. That one I'm not quite sure yet, it might improve by then. While you may not be able to OC an IB beyond 4.5GHz with air cooling, it should still outperform a SB, stasio posted some results that showed improvement by a small margin. 4.8-4.9GHz calls for high volts and insane temps.

If you're getting an overclocked capable CPU then you might worry about OC performance, else it doesn't matter actually. For laptops and low powered devices, IB is a good upgrade since it has a better IGP and low power consumption.

If Intel is going to fix anything with 22nm Trigate, it would be Haswell, not IB because there is no need for them to do so. From their POV, IB works exactly as it should. It is power efficient and gives a substantial increase in IGP performance. For overclockers, they are just a minority that would one day be phased out and the numbers are getting smaller. They make CPUs to make money and the ones that are profitable are servers and mobile, desktops are not quite profitable as it used to be. Sooner or later, there might not even be a K series processor. Look at Xeon now, you can't overclock them on a SR-3 motherboard anymore. Giving extra settings just creates more validation headaches for Intel because it must work beyond their factory specifications which already promises 100% stability.

We would have OC on Haswell but I can't say the same for anything smaller than that. Look at NAND memory, lifespan is sacrificed for higher density memory. Many said that enthusiasts are pampered by SB and with the expectation of higher clock frequencies with every generation. The thing is that the tolerance of the CPU gets worse as it gets smaller, voltage ceiling is lower than before etc. Who is to say that I don't want an ideal situation where frequencies increases with every generation? The laws of physics just won't allow that to happen. We will see a slight improvement with Haswell, that much I am sure.

If the heat issue is real then we would just have to accept it. Probably cooling solutions aren't as good anymore and gives them more room to invent newer ways to cool things down better. On a side note, watercooling is pretty affordable these days, I see no reason for an enthusiast to not spend that little extra to keep the hobby alive.

Surely got people who are more into getting the newer stuff without realizing anything else would sell their Core i7 2600K/2700K blindly at GS when IB launches. Go get them for a bargain.

All IB owner here got kidnapped by Intel for breaking NDA.

Should be just fine since our ambient temps are ~30-32C at most during the day. Just stick to 4.5GHz and below 1.3V and you should be fine even on air coolers.

Wait if you want to. A new stepping isn't going to work miracles and I can't see why Intel would when they could only sell IB for a few months, probably not even a year. In relation to the 95W Core i7 3770K, there might be a improved 77W version like we see with some AMD processors that were initially 125W and later on 95W. Don't harp on it too much, it still isn't going to be a miracle by fixing heat issues with just 1 stepping.

Not quite certain yet what is the safe range for IB since it is not as easy as it being a die shrink only but also to consider the fact that it is implementing a new method(Trigate). 1.3V comes from the fact that most users are getting a spike in temperatures once they go beyond it. SB shouldn't be a problem around 1.35-1.375V, so we've shaved off 0.05-0.075V from its safe operating voltage. There are IB's that were overclocked with DICE and LN2 that are in the range of 1.8-2.0V, I'd say they can be quite robust given the fact that the IMC in IB is faster and more robust than the one found in SB.

The thing is IB works so well within its factory set limits, good power consumption at a reasonable temp. The only ones facing the heat issues are us overclockers who are pushing it beyond its specified limits. Read through some of the IB previews, at stock the Core i5 and Core i7 have lower or similar temps and of course lower power consumption.

For IB, the limiting factor should be with the CPU itself, heat and voltage. The motherboard provided that it has decent power delivery (8+2, 8+4), it shouldn't make much of a difference or it is too small to even justify the extra cost.

Asus boards are good. ASRock boards are almost just as good at a lower price point. It all depends on what the user actually needs and wants to do with their rig.

I think it is within the margin of error since the difference at 0.005V isn't much from one board to another. But at those voltages and a Corsair H100, I'm pretty sure they are only testing whether it can boot to Windows. It will immediately crash as soon as you run any stability programs, for IB. SB should be able to do a little bit if what they have is a golden chip.

This post has been edited by dma0991: Apr 21 2012, 11:42 AM

Intel's desktop Ivy Bridge Core i3 processors priced

Removed

This post has been edited by dma0991: Apr 24 2012, 12:18 AM

Intel Ivy Bridge Reviews (Core i7 3770K)

Anandtech
Techspot (Review is up again)
Hexus
OC3D
HardOCP
VR-Zone
Tweaktown
Bjorn3D
Hardware Canucks
PC Perspective
Overclockers Club
HardwareHeaven
Tom's Hardware
Guru3D
Bit-tech
Xbitlabs
Hothardware
Computer Base (translated)
Tech Radar

You've only read reviews about it and got scared off by it? IB doesn't get very hot if you're going for moderate overclocking(=<4.5GHz). Most who own SB are not temp limited at 4.5GHz and beyond but many stayed with 4.5GHz for concerns that higher voltages will kill their CPU faster, the same applies to IB. In fact I might say that IB is far more resilient when it comes to temps than SB since it has a higher Tjmax.