Details emerge about Intel Ivy Bridge desktop PC processors, due in Q2 2012

More information has been revealed about the successor to Intel's Sandy Bridge processors. Dubbed Ivy Bridge, the 22nm processors promise superior graphics power and energy efficiency compared to their predecessors, and now we know some of their product names and some specs.

The first Ivy Bridge desktop chips are now slated to roll out in the second quarter of next year (previously they were rumored to emerge in Q1), and will include Core i5 and Core i7 versions, all of which save one will be quad-core. The families will comprise the Core i5 3300, 3400, and 3500 series and the Core i7 3700 series. Almost all of the Core i5 chips will include Intel 2500 HD graphics, while the Core i7 ones (and the Core i5-3570K) come with Intel 4000 HD graphics. The new integrated graphics supposedly will have 30 percent higher performance than the ones in Sandy Bridge, and be DirectX 11 compatible.

Except for the dual-core Core i5-3470T, the other Core i5s will come with 6MB of cache and clock speeds ranging from 2.7GHz to 3.4GHz. The Core i7s will include 8MB of cache and clock speeds that range from 2.5GHz (for the 45W i7-3770T) to 3.5GHz. In addition to the i5-3570K, the i7-3770K will be unclocked to ease overclocking. Perhaps most impressive is that the top-end i7-3770K will feature a TDP of just 77W, while many other initial Ivy Bridges offerings are 65W.

You can find full details at X-bit labs, though Intel won't publicly acknowledge these leaked plans, so we'll need to wait, perhaps until CES, until the chip giant spills the beans officially.