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Intel Ivy Bridge review

TBA

Manufacturer: Intel

Our Rating: We rate this 4.5 out of 5

By | PC Advisor | 23 April 12

We tested the Intel Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K processor. Our Ivy Bridge review shows that Intel's new Core processors offer improvements in performance and power efficiency.

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Our Ivy Bridge review shows that Intel's next-gen of Core processors offers more power and greater efficiency.

Intel Ivy Bridge: Video transcoding

We used CyberLink's MediaEspresso application to convert 16 short clips of 1080p Blu-ray video into a format designed for viewing on an iPad. MediaEspresso takes advantage of Intel's Quick Sync Video technology, leveraging the power of the built-in graphics processor.

Here, the Core i7-3770K outperformed its predecessor by 45 percent, completing the task in 1 min 37 secs compared to the 2 mins 21 secs of the Core i7-2700K. This is a clear indicator of the improved performance of the new graphics engine found in Ivy Bridge.

Intel Ivy Bridge: Gaming

Intel's integrated graphics aren't really powerful enough for the gaming enthusiast, but the new Intel HD 4000 graphics do deliver a significant improvement. It allows more challenging games to be played smoothly and with better graphics.

We ran our Crysis benchmark at 1280x720 resolution, and measured a 15.2 percent performance boost in low-quality mode. This increased to an impressive 36 percent when we stepped up to medium quality.

Ivy Bridge Crysis Performance

Intel Ivy Bridge: Power consumption

We also measured system power consumption with each of the chips installed, first with the system idle and then when running the aforementioned CyberLink MediaEspresso test.

There's not much to be gained when the PC is idle, but the average power consumption dropped from 58W for Sandy Bridge to 55W for Ivy Bridge.

Once the processors are put under load, the advantages of the 22nm process and Tri-Gate technology come to the fore. We measured an average power consumption of 142W for Sandy Bridge and 113W for Ivy Bridge. It's important to keep in mind that the Ivy Bridge processor achieves this lower power consumption while simultaneously performing the task 45 percent faster.

Ivy bridge Power Consumption

Read our first Ivy Bridge PC review.

WorldBench 6 breakdown    i7-2700K    i7-3770K
Overall score    195    200
Adobe Photoshop CS2    213    208
Autodesk 3ds max (DirectX)    267    262
Autodesk 3ds max (rendering)    178    168
Firefox 2.0    141    133
Microsoft Office 2003 with SP1    293    293
Windows Media Encoder 9.0    130    126
Multitasking: Firefox and WME    159    153
Nero 7 Ultra Edition    92    92
Roxio VideoWave Movie Creator 1.5    147    142
WinZip Computing WinZip 10.0    135    135

Intel Core i7-3770K Expert Verdict »

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Post Review
Intel third-generation Core processor
quad-core
3.5GHz (Turbo Boost to 3.9GHz)
22nm manufacturing process
DirectX 11.0
HiDPI
  • Overall: We give this item 9 of 10 overall

Ivy Bridge is most certainly a improvement over its predecessor. And with prices expected to be around the same as those of their Sandy Bridge counterparts, these new chips are definitely worth seeking out. Graphics performance sees the more impressive boost, even if the results are still behind what can be achieved with existing integrated graphics solutions from AMD – albeit with significantly lower application performance. Sandy Bridge owners need not worry too much, since the performance gains are not huge – but if you do want to upgrade, you may be able to do so without replacing your existing motherboard. Overclockers may benefit most from this type of upgrade, thanks to the lower power requirements of the Ivy Bridge architecture. The greatest benefits of all are sure to be felt in the mobile-optimised processors in laptops, which should benefit from improved battery life and graphics.

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Comments

Marty Smith said: Ivy Bridge i7-3770k vs i7-920 oced to 4GHz and I already have an AMD GFX cardWould be interesting

shaurz said: I might wait until Haswell My current system is Core 2 Quad Q9550 45nm

Ryan said: Looks very promising I hope having put my main build off till today for this release is not a waste though Intel rarely disappoints

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