Intel: Ivy Bridge Graphics 70% Stronger, Chips Will Support NFC and Offer Built-in Security

January 9th, 2012 by Kenneth Butler, LAPTOP Web Producer/Writer

Intel wants you to get ready for the next generation of its Core-brand processors. To stoke your flames the company took to the stage for the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show to share some of the capabilities of its next-generation chipset which includes much-improved graphics performance and support for NFC payments.

When it was announced in the spring of 2011, Ivy Bridge was touted as a new design that reduced the chip size from Intel’s standard 32-nanometer design to a smaller 22-nm form factor. The chip also decreased in power consumption as well, drawing almost 20% less energy than its Sandy Bridge predecessor. The chip was also touted for improved graphics performance with Intel’s integrated video solution.

Today, in the press conference led by Intel V.P Mooly Eden, the always-energetic company head disclosed more details on that performance improvement–or rather, he teased it. According to Eden, the upcoming chipset, which has already begun to appear in newly debuted laptops from Lenovo and Acer, will offer improved graphic performance in excess of 70 percent.

To showcase the delta, Intel provided three use case scenarios using notebooks loaded with Ivy Bridge processors:

Photos: To demonstrate the speed of the CPU and it’s ability to increase its performance with Intel Turbo Boost software that raises CPU speed when a heavy processing task is executed, the company compressed a photo album of 100 photos in a common of seconds. While the computer completed the task, the Core i5 Ivy Bridge chip powered the system climbed from a rest state of 1.8-Ghz to as much as 2.1-GHz.
Real-Time Graphics Rendering: The same notebook with a Core i5 CPU again climbed as high as 2.1-GHz to play an intense, video game demo.
Animations Editing: Intel reps adjusted the vectors of a demanding animation in real-time, citing the complex computing power needed to execute such a task with video lag or stutter.

In addition to the live demos, Intel also revealed new capabilities that will be built directly into its 22-nm processor, namely support for near-field communication (NFC) and new built-in security tools. In the demonstration, Intel reps made an online purchase by swiping a credit card against the notebook. According to the presenters, an individual credit card can be assigned to a specific notebook. If the credit card is lost or stolen, it won’t work with another notebook.

There’ll be more details to arrive from Intel throughout the show. Stay tuned.