Intel Ivy Bridge Processors Released. (Image: Intel Free Press, via Flickr / CC)

Intel has finally released its highly anticipated Ivy Bridge processors, the first semiconductor chips to use its 22nm tri-gate process node.

The world’s largest chip maker now promotes the Ivy Bridge as the ‘tock’ after its massively successful Sandy Bridge series that the company brought out 15 months ago. The new processors, steered by the flagship Core i7-3770K, use relatively smaller transistor but Intel said computing performance will only be minimal since the company focused on improvements on the graphics department.

More than a year ago, Intel unveiled the 22nm tri-gate process with claims that Ivy Bridge would release by year-end of 2011. After several postponed schedules, shipments for the processors will finally start on April 29.

For the company, Ivy Bridge chips will offer up support for third-generation PCI-Express and DirectX 11 compatible graphics. Intel sharply emphasized that although Ivy Bridge was a ‘tock’ when it comes to CPU performance, the HD 4000 Graphics is more of a ‘tick’ in the company’s production cycle.

Intel revealed nine desktop parts, five of which Core i5 units while the rest are Core i7. The launching initially released quad-core Ivy Bridge parts, but dual-core units will come by the end of this year.

The LGA1155 socket and thermal design power (TDP) are intact, which means computer companies can still use current chassis and cooling designs with the latest chips. Intel’s Ivy Bridge range flagship, the Core i7-3770K, clocked at 3.5GHz with maximum turbo boost of up to 3.9GHz.

About Francis Rey Balolong

A coffee junkie who spends most of his time writing about the latest news on social media and mobile technology. I would definitely consider myself a nerd (in the coolest most hipster way possible). That being said, I love technology, music, writing, and all things mobile. Follow me: Google+ Twitter

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