Despite the several weeks delay that Intel’s Ivy Bridge core suffered, engineering samples of the new processor are already being tested. One thing is for sure – it shines in 3D.
Intel fans should not expect huge improvements in the CPU performance as Ivy Bridge is just an incremental upgrade to Sandy Bridge. Still there’s improvement of 5 per cent to 15 per cent depending on the running application. The focus in Ivy Bridge, it seems, has been placed on the integrated GPU, which has been significantly improved. According to some benchmarks done by Anandtech, the new GPU improves performance by 20 to 50 per cent.
The 50 per cent improvement was seen in the 2011 mega hit game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Although Ivy Bridge came in fourth place in this benchmark, trailing AMD’s Radeon HD 5570, Nvidia’s GeForce GT440, and the Radeon HD 6550D, it easily outshined Sandy Bridge, scoring a 46.2 (out of 70). Sandy Bridge scored a 31.9 in the study.
This is great news for the casual gamer who does not need a discrete graphics cards. While the integrated GPU in Ivy Bridge is not meant to compete with real graphics cards it still offers adequate 3D performance for most contemporary games and more than enough for pretty much every old game.
As to the CPU performance Ivy Bridge also tops most benchmarks so there’s a clear indication that the upcoming processor core will be another benchmark champion. The only question that remains is when exactly we’ll be able to get it.
Source: News.Cnet.com