Chips and chipsets
There's also Supervisory Mode Execute Protection (SMEP) which helps to prevent Escalation of Privilege (EoP) attacks in both 32- and 64-bit operating modes.
Intel have also upgraded the cores instruction set with a couple of new conversion instructions between 16-bit floating point and 32-bit single-precision floating point numbers, which helps save memory by allowing coders to send off a few instructions to perform these commonplace calculations rather than doing it in their own code.
Intel’s initial Ivy Bridge line-up comprises 20 of the third-generation processors split ten each between the desktop and mobile segments.
In general, if a processor is suffixed with a K, it's unlocked for overclocking. S-class processors have a lower CPU clock and a reduced TDP, while T-branded ones have even lower core clocks, lower Turbo Boost peak speeds, and a much reduced TDP. If a core has no suffix then is a straightforward CPU aimed towards the mainstream market sector.
Accompanying the Ivy Bridge CPUs is a new range of chipsets, all of which were codenamed 'Panther Point' but will be marketed as the 7 series. All of them support both Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge CPUs. Like Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge chips use the LGA1155 socket, so should work in a Sandy Bridge-oriented motherboard, though you may need to update the board's Bios and even then there’s no guarantee you’ll get all the Ivy Bridge functionality.
At the time of writing, there are six new 7-series chipsets, three for the consumer market - Z77, Z75 and H77 - and three for the business sector: B75, Q75 and Q77.
All this technology is great, and it's nice to have kit that delivers more performance yet consumes less power than before. But what is the Ivy Bridge user experience really likely to be?
Well, if you already have a second-generation based system, then there’s no real point in upgrading. The new chipsets have native USB 3.0 support and PCI Express 3.0, the lanes for which come directly from the Ivy Bridge CPU, but the jury is still out on whether the jump from PCIe 2.0 to 3.0 makes any real difference, particularly when it comes to gaming.
And most existing Sandy Bridge-oriented boards have USB 3.0.
But if you're thinking about moving from an older platform then Ivy Bridge is clearly the way to go. And that's going to be even more the case when Intel rolls out mobile Ivy Bridge chips. Better graphics will reduce the need for a separate GPU, so lesser laptops will be cheaper. And the better power preservation should mean Ivy Bridge laptop users enjoy longer battery life. ®
WTF is... Intel's Ivy Bridge
COMMENTS
Re: Ivybridge
I'm absolutely holding out for Stoneybridge.
It's near the Yetts of Muckhart.
Re: power consumption
Granted it would be nice but the main problem with reviews is that nearly every setup is going to be different and that makes it particularly hard for MB manufacturers to guestimate. Should they use a baseline with 4 GB ram? Do we assume all ram chips are created equal, 1066/1300/etc? What about video cards, how many usb devices, hard drives, etc. We haven't even gotten to the biggest elephant in the room which is the power supply where the efficiency changes, sometimes greatly, depending on how hard it's being hit. Sure, the manufacturers could slap together a base config and measure the DC power but we all know everyone will have a different base config.
To top it all off, here in the US some tool will get all the exact same parts, put it together, plug it into the shoddy wiring in the shed, kick off some automated test program to measure the power with a $10 meter rated at 1800 watts with +/-10% full scale accuracy while he goes and uses a stick welder to make up a sparkly new case, on the same circuit of course, and comes back to find it drew 22 watts more than was "advertised by the manufacturer". Naturally, he decides he should sue claiming false advertising, hurt feelings and loss of welding rod while his lawyer figures this should play out nicely as a class action gig worth at least a meeellion dollars.
Re: power consumption
If you google 'review' together with the name of the component you are thinking of buying, on the first page of results you will usually find several very indepth reviews of the component with a whole page dedicated to power consumption. It's really not that hard.
Re: power consumption
"If you google 'review' together with the name of the component ... you will usually find several very indepth reviews of the component with a whole page dedicated to power consumption."
Have you actually read any of those pages? The estimates that are made for the power consumption of motherboards are the result handwaving and guesswork, and comparison with boards with other chipsets or made by other manufacturers.
It would be nice to have actual data, and it would be nice to see manufacturers competing on running costs and greenness, rather than just on speed and shininess for once.
If you want to do serious gaming with the latest games at high resolutions, then you will still need a graphics card
