The 7 Series Chipset & USB 3.0

The platform story around Ivy Bridge is far better than it was when Sandy Bridge launched. There are a ton of chipsets, but the delineation makes sense this time. All chipsets support Ivy's processor graphics, however only the Z75/Z77 support CPU overclocking. The good news for current 6-series/Sandy Bridge owners is, with BIOS support, your platforms can support Ivy Bridge as well—making for a better upgrade path down the road.


Intel Z77 PCH

Intel Z68 PCH

 

The new 7-series platform features PCIe 3.0 support, but only when used with an Ivy Bridge CPU, and only on the lanes that branch off of the CPU itself—the PCH lanes are still PCIe 2.0. Ivy's processor graphics, when combined with a 7-series chipset, also enables support for three independent displays (up from 2 with Sandy Bridge/6-series). Other than those two items, the only remaining feature is USB 3.0 support. Intel's 7-series PCH finally has native support for up to 4 USB 3.0 ports.

Performance of Intel's USB 3.0 controller is very good as you'll see in our upcoming Ivy Bridge motherboard roundup.

Intel's 7-series chipset does support Thunderbolt when paired with an external Cactus Ridge Thunderbolt controller, however the Thunderbolt for PCs launch has been pushed back to late May so we'll have to wait a bit before diving into that.

While most enthusiasts will focus on Z77, you can give up SSD caching, some flexibility on the PCIe side (and Thunderbolt support) and go for Intel's Z75 chipset. The chipset itself isn't much cheaper, but boards built around it will likely target lower price points and be lighter on features.

Overclocking and 22nm The Test & CPU Performance
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  • pwnsweet - Saturday, April 28, 2012 - link

    nevermind, I'm an idiot. I found it.
  • PG - Sunday, April 29, 2012 - link

    http://ark.intel.com/products/65511/Intel-Core-i5-...
  • ktmobi - Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - link

    Keep in mind that in Ivy Bridge, CPU speed is directly propotional to GPU's speed + performance.

    Source - http://mobilityupdate.com/notebooks/intel-hd-4000-...
  • BSMonitor - Wednesday, May 2, 2012 - link

    In the mobile line up, there is only 1 SKU for Intel Processors. As they cut back on the CPU, the HD3000 or HD4000 remains for ALL mobile GPUs.
  • SalientKing - Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - link

    I just got a 3450, the tag on it says 95w, your chart here says 77w. I'm a little worried i just got a repackaged SB cpu....
  • warmbit - Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - link

    For those who want to see a comparison of 3770K to 2600k in more games (several sites), please check the article:

    http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=pl&sl...
  • DaddyMacCadillac - Thursday, June 14, 2012 - link

    "Quick Sync's transcoding abilities are limited to applications like Media Espresso or ArcSoft's Media Converter—there's still no support in open source applications like Handbrake."

    Umm, try MediaCoder, steep learning curve but it works great! I also wish Handbrake would adopt this technology...
  • midn8t - Thursday, June 28, 2012 - link

    I would like to say that they do not seem to say what they are running for GPU, also I own the fx chip in this review and would like to say that with the 7970 driect cuII asua vide card, I get way over those FPS in dawn of war maxed out gfxs I am getting 134 average fps

    I also own dragonage and when I am running fraps I am getting maxed res max AA getting 139 average fps

    cyris I get 139 fps and I get civ 5 225 fps

    be honest the cpu has little to do with FPS its video card mostly anyways I am running eyeinfity setup on top of this and getting these fps in game according to fraps
  • midn8t - Thursday, June 28, 2012 - link

    I have the AMD FX 8150 and I also own Crysis: Warhead, Civilization V, Dawn of War II, and Dragon Age Origins and I get way better FPS then they claimed to have gotten I mean my FPS are almsot double that, sometimes tripple and I am using Farps

    for exampel Civ 5 I get average of 190 FPS in game maxed out res with eyeinfity using Fraps

    but I am also using a 7970 Directcu2 GPU
  • galestorm - Thursday, June 28, 2012 - link

    double post, I almost did same thing lol, becuase I noticed my post was tooken down or did not show up right away..

    I have to agree with you I own your CPU also, one they dont claim to be using on board GPU meaning one built into CPU and if they where far as I know teh AMD fx dosnt have a built in GPU so it would suck and there actully called APU i belive ?

    anyway I was also wondering what GPU they where using for the test becuase when I read this page it dosnt say it any where and page before the two buttons say review back and review http://www.anandtech.com/show/5771/the-intel-ivy-b... dosnt say anything about what GPU there using, but I do own amd FX and I also own a 7970 GPU and I will say that the FPS ratting on here a AMD FX comboed with 7970 you will get ammzing FPS in game it blows these fps they claim out of the water, the FPS 50 FPS I mean I use to get that with my 5k series amd card I hell I use to get 45 to 50 fps with my 6k series eyeinfity card this 7970 gets like use above says double or tripple preformance of whats claimed in this review with fraps.

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