PAT PILCHER
Intel has finally launched its Ivy Bridge range of processors, which, according to the chip making giant, is the first generation to feature 3D transistors.
According to Intel the addition of 3D transistor will allow processors to deliver more computing muscle while consuming less energy, which means big gains for battery life and hardware that generates significantly less heat.
The Ivy Bridge range currently consists of 13 quad-core processors, many of which will be aimed at desktop computers, with additional dual core processors, intended for notebook PCs to be announced later this year.
Intel says there are over 570 new Ivy Bridge based products in development including numerous ultrabooks, desktop computers and a significant amount of "all-in-one" form factor PCs (where the computer hardware is integrated into the screen for a more slim-line design).
Ivy Bridge is also Intel's first processor manufactured using the 22 nanometre process, which means it should be capable of bringing approximately 20 percent more performance to the table whilst using up to 20 percent less power on average.
Having already built three massive manufacturing plants to fabricate the new chips, a fourth plant is expected to open later this year, which means Intel should be well positioned to meet demand. Last year the chip maker struggled to supply the market with Sandy Bridge processors because of explosive demand for the then new processors.
Developing a robust lead in the CPU market is critical for the chip making giant, as long-time partner, Microsoft, has develop a version of Windows 8 for use on hardware powered by competitor Arm. Much of the interest in Arm CPUs has been driven by greater demand for energy efficiency over raw computing power.
The secret underpinning Ivy Bridge's power efficiency and performance lies with Intel's 3D transistor technology (which according to Intel has been in development for over 11 years). Intel is confident that this should give them the means to compete with Arm on processor energy efficiency whilst also allowing Intel devices to theoretically outperform Arm equipped hardware.
Where the transistors built into most silicon have traditionally used a "flat" design, Intel has made their transistors "3D" - replacing the flat "2D" gates in each transistor with super-thin fins that rise up from the transistors silicon base. Three gates are wrapped around each fin - two on each side and the other across the top. Which means that even though the transistors in Ivy Bridge chips are a tiny 22nm (that's 1/22 billionth of a metre), which means that if you were able to physically arrange something this tiny, you'd be able to fit a boggling 4000 of them across a the width of a single strand of hair. Intel have plans to manufacture even tinier 10nm transistors by 2015.
Another key draw card for buyers and manufacturers with Ivy Bridge processors will also be improved graphics rendering capabilities thanks to an integrated GPU (graphics processing unit) on the chips, rather than a separate graphics card adding additional costs to computing hardware.
With improvements in processing speed, Ivy Bridge powered devices should be capable of handling HD video and working 4K resolution offered by top-end video cameras. The faster GPU hardware should also allow for quicker video transcoding, which means HD video could be quickly recoded should users want to send smaller more manageable video clips without blowing out data allowances.
On-chip USB 3.0 support has also been added, which should see a growing number of device makers offering it as a standard for zippier data transfers to hard disks, cameras and other USB 3.0 devices.
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