Hardware News

Intel 'Ivy Bridge' Core i7-3720QM Mobile Processor Launched!

Patrick "MACMAC" MacMillan

2012-04-24 06:30:00.0


Along with the desktop 'Ivy Bridge' variants, Intel have also revealed their 22nm mobile processor line-up. Although not the flagship model, the Core i7-3720QM is still hugely impressive for a mobile processor. It is a quad-core/eight-thread chip with a 2.6Ghz default clock, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, 6MB of L3 cache, a dual-channel DDR3-1600 memory interface, a fairly low 45W TDP, and a higher clocked version of HD Graphics 4000 IGP than is found in the desktop chips.

Let's see what they had to say:

  • Hardware Canucks:

    "Naturally, standard notebooks and even gamer-oriented systems will benefit from what Ivy Bridge brings to the table. We saw some of this potential in our i7 3720QM benchmarks. Despite retailing for the same price as the Sandy Bridge chip it is destined to replace, it offers a significant improvement in every application. The 22nm Tri Gate design also seems to be paying dividends since we noticed the Ivy Bridge processor was more willing to boost up to higher turbo ratios than its predecessor. Whether or not this was due to cooling system differences between one system and another is anyone’s guess but both processors were continually running at nearly identical temperatures throughout testing."


    Click here to read the full review.


  • PC Perspective:

    "Ivy Bridge for mobile has easily exceeded my expectations. Because this is not a new architecture I was expecting to see gains between 5 to 10 percent. Instead, the new Intel Core i7-3720QM runs away from every previous processor in multiple benchmarks. Granted, it is among the most powerful versions of Ivy Bridge we'll see in a laptop - but it's still quick even if handicapped.

    Intel HD 4000 is better still. Intel’s IGP is now on par with a low-end discrete GPU. Most modern games are enjoyable so long as you keep detail settings at low to medium if you don’t exceed a resolution of 1366x768. Intel has finally produced an IGP that can handle most games at the native resolution of the average laptop."


    Click here to read the full review.

Although Ivy Bridge is not necessarily a huge improvement on the desktop side, it is going to make a huge impact in the mobile sector. With its very low power consumption, improved Turbo Boost capabilities, and much more powerful IGP, mobile IVB is going to make for some awesome notebooks.

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