The Ivy Bridge Preview: Core i7 3770K Tested
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 6, 2012 8:16 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- Core i7
- Ivy Bridge
Intel HD Graphics 4000 Performance
With respectable but still very tick-like performance gains on the CPU, our focus now turns to Ivy Bridge's GPU. Drivers play a significant role in performance here and we're still several weeks away from launch so these numbers may improve. We used the latest available drivers as of today for all other GPUs.
A huge thanks goes out to EVGA for providing us with a GeForce GT 440 and GeForce GT 520 for use in this preview.
Crysis: Warhead
We'll start with Crysis, a title that no one would have considered running on integrated graphics a few years ago. Sandy Bridge brought playable performance at low quality settings (Performance defaults) last year, but how much better does Ivy do this year?
In our highest quality benchmark (Mainstream) settings, Intel's HD Graphics 4000 is 55% faster than the 3000 series graphics in Sandy Bridge. While still tangibly slower than AMD's Llano (Radeon HD 6550D), Ivy Bridge is a significant step forward. Drop the quality down a bit and playability improves significantly:
Over 50 fps at 1680 x 1050 from Intel integrated graphics is pretty impressive. Here we're showing a 41% increase in performance compared to Sandy Bridge, with Llano maintaining a 33% advantage over Ivy. I would've liked to have seen an outright doubling of performance, but this is a big enough step forward to be noticeable on systems with no discrete GPU.
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Mithan - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
Most gamers don't spend money on the I7 lineup, prefering to buy the Core i5 series and invest the extra money into more GPU.just4U - Thursday, March 8, 2012 - link
It's not only the extra money.. Apparently the 2500K does better in a fair number of games over the 2600K (in part.. i think due to Hyper Threading) and the graphs seem to support that (altho maybe not for the reason I mentioned)Looking at the 3700 series though it beats out both the 2500K and 2600K so I think that one is going to be of special interest to gamers.. moving forward.
auvrea - Monday, November 19, 2012 - link
bumpnuha_te10 - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
I'm afraid the next Haswell will be Tock-Arnulf - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
Why ?If the statement "the significant gains we're seeing here with Ivy will pale in comparison to what Haswell provides" is true then I'm looking forward to Haswell very much. I'll finally be able to dump discrete GPU as I only use relatively mdoest dislay resolutions, and instead pour the money into even quieter cooling solution. Silence, sweet silence :)
Articuno - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
Nice to see AMD winning where it actually matters for most consumer applications.Exodite - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
Browsing?Fujikoma - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
You crack me up... that was truly a funny response.Seriously though, Llano isn't that bad for a generic/cheap build. I did pick one up to build a machine for my mom. The mobo and the proc. were justified by the price. I knew it wouldn't be powerful, but it's fairly energy efficient, has decent graphics and the money I saved went toward the ssd. Most people I build/fix computers for, don't come close to using them to their potential, so price becomes the biggest factor. Would I buy one for myself? No, I'll stick with the i7 I currently have and when I build my next machine, it looks like it'll be an Intel also.
Exodite - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
Thanks. :)I quite agree, Llano is awesome for what it does and provides an excellent platform for most users.
I'm just tired of the assumption that GPU grunt is more powerful than CPU.
It's true that most of my friends and family would be perfectly happy with the GPU muscle in a Llano chip. That said, they'd also be perfectly happy with the iGPU in something like a i3 2100.
As for myself I'm using an i7 2600K, running at stock, but then I have somewhat different requirements.
I'd not hesitate to recommend either Llano or Intel chips with iGPU solutions, it all depends on the person really.
Exodite - Wednesday, March 7, 2012 - link
...'GPU grunt is more important that CPU'... would probably read better, looking back.Ah well, you get the point I'm sure.