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Desktops Components Input devices Displays Storage Networking Components Processors: What to Expect From CPUs in 2012 By Nate Ralph, PCWorld Dec 27, 2011 6:00 PM print As the brains of most every modern computing gadget, the central processing unit or CPU is an indispensable part of every desktop, laptop, phone, or tablet. The processor crunches the numbers and assigns the tasks, and it's one of the chief pieces of hardware that determine how thick your laptop is or how long your pho ne s battery will last. Every year, these slabs of silicon get smaller, stronger, and more energy-effici ent. That s good news for gadget mavens, as devices become faster, lighter, and ge nerally more impressive as a result. Next year will be no exception. In this art icle, I ll look at what s expected from Intel, AMD, and Nvidia. It s a bit too soon to tell how things will shake out--expect big announcements from the CES tech trad e show in January--but I ll try to fill in some of the blanks. Crossing the Sandy Bridge Processors: What to Expect From CPUs in 2012 In the desktop and laptop markets, there are two major players: Intel and AMD. O f the two, Intel has gained more traction this year, bringing a number of powerf ul, popular components to market--with the promise of much more to come in the n ext year. Intel operates on what it calls a tick-tock cycle. With every "tick," Intel introd uces a new manufacturing process. In 2010, Intel s Clarkdale desktop processors redu ced the company s Nehalem microarchitecture to 32 nanometers, delivering improved performance and energy savings. With every "tock," Intel introduces a new microa rchitecture. In 2011, we got Sandy Bridge CPUs, which deliver superior performan ce to their Clarkdale predecessors while cutting power costs and improving the i ntegrated graphics performance. We ll see the next tick in 2012, when Intel shrinks the Sandy Bridge microarchitectu re down to the 22-nanometer process. The resulting new CPUs, code-named Ivy Brid ge, promise even better power savings and performance, much as the last two proc essor generations did. Smaller Is Better Processors: What to Expect From CPUs in 2012 Most of the information we have about Ivy Bridge comes from the Intel Developer s Forum held earlier this year, plus the occasional leaked PowerPoint presentation . Of primary importance is Intel s die shrink, which moves from the 32-nanometer p rocess to the 22-nanometer process. Switching to a smaller die size allows proce ssor manufacturers to create chips that draw less energy. Earlier this year Intel unveiled the 3D tri-gate transistor technology that it has implemented to make the transition to the 22-nanometer process. The new transis tors are smaller, faster, and more power-efficient, and will be key to the perfo rmance gains that Intel claims we ll see with Ivy Bridge.

But what does all of that mean for you? Simple: An Ivy Bridge CPU will supply pe rformance similar to that of a Sandy Bridge CPU while consuming less power, and it will offer greater performance while consuming the same amount of power. That means you'll see laptops that provide better battery life without sacrificing s peed, as well as faster desktops that are easier on your utility budget. Under the Hood Intel's Desktop Platform Roadmap Intel has offered no confirmation of what the Ivy Bridge lineup will look like, but leaked reports obtained by Xbit Labs give some information on the new proces sor line s naming convention, as well as its CPU frequencies. The new CPUs will pu rportedly follow the standard naming convention for Intel s Core processors, falli ng into the 3000 series (Sandy Bridge was the 2000 series). A refresher: Traditionally Intel divides the Core platform into three segments-Core i3 at the low end, Core i5 for the midrange, and Core i7 at the high end. F ollowing that designation is a model number. You may also see a suffix at the en d of the model number: K for unlocked processors, S for performance-optimized proc essors, or T for power-optimized processors. The S and T variants are generally fo r OEM use only--expect to see them in desktops and laptops on retail shelves. An unlocked, higher-end Ivy Bridge CPU, for example, could be named the Intel Core i7-3770K. We also know that Ivy Bridge will be compatible with the LGA 1155 socket--great news for Sandy Bridge owners, who may not need to buy an entirely new motherboar d to upgrade. And if you just dropped a few hundred dollars on Intel s Sandy Bridg e Extreme Edition processor, don t worry: When I met with Intel representatives, t hey told me that Ivy Bridge Extreme Edition will use the LGA 2011 socket, so you too have a clear upgrade path. Other notable enhancements include an upgraded graphics core built into the CPU, allowing DirectX 11 support with Intel s integrated graphics. We don't have many concrete details yet, but with every microarchitecture iteration we ve seen, Intel s integrated graphics improve. Ivy Bridge CPUs will also bring native support for USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, which we hope will mean greater adoption of those conn ectivity technologies across desktops and laptops of all makes and models. We've heard no word on when Ivy Bridge CPUs and products equipped with them will arrive, but you can expect to see them sometime around the second quarter of 20 12. We ll certainly know more in January, once Intel releases a few more details a t CES. Beyond Bulldozer Processors: What to Expect From CPUs in 2012 Now, what about AMD? The budget-minded processor manufacturer is focused on its Fusion APUs (Accelerated Processing Units), which combine CPUs and GPUs onto a s ingle piece of silicon. AMD has its work cut out for it over the next year, howe ver. In October, AMD pulled the curtain back on its long-awaited Bulldozer architectu re. Unfortunately, Bulldozer had a rather disappointing launch, and my own testi ng showed that the best chip technology that AMD could muster failed to outdo In tel s midrange offerings. The company will follow up the Bulldozer microarchitecture with Piledriver, an e nhanced variant of the Bulldozer core. Actual details are slim, and code names f or individual desktop and laptop lines abound, but we do know that AMD will be l ooking to boost the performance per watt and will be baking in stronger GPU core s. Piledriver is still expected to be a 32-nanometer architecture, which puts AM

D at something of a disadvantage in light of Intel s 22-nanometer Ivy Bridge. We aren t expecting to see Piledriver until sometime around the middle of 2012. Bu lldozer arrived only a few months ago, after all. Once again, expect more news f rom the AMD camp around the CES time frame (CES starts the week of January 8). Bite-Size CPUs Processors: What to Expect From CPUs in 2012 I d be remiss to discuss processors without touching on the mobile market. Tablets and smartphones are the gadgets du jour, and although consumers might be a bit more concerned about aesthetics and apps than about their portable bauble s innard s, quite a bit of power is at play inside. It seems like only yesterday we were wondering what to do with more than two cor es in our cellular phones. In 2012, quad-core processors will rule the day, with chip manufacturers such as Nvidia and Qualcomm leading the charge. Nvidia Tegra 2Nvidia Tegra 2 Nvidia s Tegra 3 is one of the first quad-core mobile CPUs to come to market, and the latest in Nvidia s Tegra system-on-a-chip line. The system consists of an ARM Cortex A9 CPU with an integrated 12-core GeForce GPU to power the graphics. Expe ct a deluge of Android tablets to use these chips, as device manufacturers pile on the features in a never-ending arms race. Processors: What to Expect From CPUs in 2012 Qualcomm will be introducing quad-core Snapdragon S4 chips in time for the 2012 holiday season. These chips will support tablets running Windows 8. The S4 will be built on the 28-nanometer process, down from the 45-nanometer process that Qu alcomm used on the current-generation S3 chips. Expect improved performance and reduced power consumption. For a thorough assessment of what to look for in mobile phones next year, be sur e to read "Quad-Core Phones: What to Expect in 2012." [For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the nation's largest consumer e lectronics show, check out PCWorld's complete coverage of CES 2012. ] 48 inShare 9 comments Add yours Sort by: Oldest First Newest First vaibhav588 12/27/2011 11:49 PM PST its a matter of portability vs performance lets see how intel wll manage dat recommend reply report abuse xyberviri 12/28/2011 07:38 AM PST Well when the prices of the current processos falls, they have to release a new architecture so they can justify the new 1k price tag.

recommend reply report abuse Gimasag3 12/28/2011 04:28 PM PST Better Intel graphics? Great, cause Intel graphics completely SUCK right now. recommend 1 reply report abuse GraysonPeddie 12/28/2011 10:29 PM PST If AMD embeds a Radeon HD 7670 in a next-generation APU, I'd be golden. That wou ld be nice with a combination single-slot 7670 GPU when I build my next computer using an mATX motherboard and computer case. :) recommend reply report abuse dragon69 avatar dragon69 01/02/2012 05:50 AM PST xyberviri said Well when the prices of the current processors falls, they have to release a new architecture so they can justify the new 1k price tag. since bulldozer never proved to be what AMD has stated it would be Intel has no need to lower CPU prices ( some Intel CPU have gone up in price) so until AMD ca n compete better get used to 1000 dollars CPUs from Intel recommend reply report abuse dragon69 avatar dragon69 01/02/2012 05:52 AM PST Gimasag3 said Better Intel graphics? Great, cause Intel graphics completely SUCK right now. BETTER means they suck 10% LESS then they used too but cost more doing it recommend

reply report abuse preferreduser avatar preferreduser 02/17/2012 07:01 PM PST I have an i3 2400 system with a sata 3 drive and 8 megs of ram running sound edi ting software,a DAW and multiple VST's along with midi controllers etc.all at th e same time also occasional gaming . It does all that and photo shop very well. My other box is an AMD athlon IIx4 it will do all that just not a as fast as the i3. The AMD streams /plays HD vide o does the you tube, Netflix, I tune,internet , Email office and multi task thin g just fine. For average use the Athlon 4 core is more than fine. I would imagin e the AMD APU's some of the multicore Phenoms and FX chips would better the Athlon II quite a bit. and some would surpass the i3 I would like to try a fast i7 and an fx chip but these two meet my costs/need s very well. The i3 seems to be favorably priced right now . Nothing wrong with the AMD chips they are quite capable for most users. looks like some nice systems packages are coming out with the AMD APU chips and should work well for most people . Nice t o have choices unlike when an Intel socket 7 motherboard was 500.00 and the Pentiums were at a premium as well. recommend reply report abuse AkilanMohana avatar AkilanMohana 07/01/2012 10:16 AM PDT Gimasag3 said Better Intel graphics? Great, cause Intel graphics completely SUCK right now. Can't argue with that. recommend reply report abuse AkilanMohana avatar AkilanMohana

07/01/2012 10:20 AM PDT Instead of improving integrated graphics, they should make an okay dedicated GPU . recommend reply report abuse Add Your Comment user avatar Please login or register to comment Related Stories Intel's Ivy Bridge Processor: Leaner and Meaner Popular Components 12 Cell Lithium Ion Notebook Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Notebook Battery as low as $67.45 Lithium Ion NGID Notebook Battery Lithium Ion NGID Notebook Battery as low as $67.45 Lithium-ion Battery Lithium-ion Battery as low as $59.49 90 WHr 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery for Select Inspiron / Vostro Laptops 90 WHr 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery for Select Inspiron / Vostro Laptops as low as $45.99 A1175 MacBook Pro 15" Notebook Battery A1175 MacBook Pro 15" Notebook Battery as low as $44.97 See more Popular Components Subscribe to the Best of PCWorld Newsletter See All Newsletters Michael Dell on Surface tablet: 'The impact will be limited' Review: iPhone 5 takes next step in smartphone evolution Barnes & Noble Nook HD tablet elevates the game PCWorld PCWorld helps you navigate the PC ecosystem to find the products you want and th e advice you need to get the job done. About Us Community Standards Contact Us Magazine Customer Service Newsletters Privacy Policy Premium Content RSS Terms of Service Agreement Forums PCWorld CHANNELS

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