Intel nearly doubled the performance of its integrated graphics circuits with the Sandy Bridge architecture. The next generation microarchitecture, Ivy Bridge, will get even more powerful graphics with more execution units and DirectX 11 support for better performance.
Intel has presented two integrated graphics circuit for Sandy Bridge, Intel HD Graphics 3000 and HD Graphics 2000. The former is found in all mobile processors and the top models of the desktop market. With 12 exeuction units and clock frequencies up to 1350 MHz with activated Turbo Intel has succeeded in matching AMD’s budget graphics card Radeon HD 5450.
With its 22nm architecture Ivy Bridge is aiming even higher and new rumors says that beside support for DirectX 11 it will increase the number of execution units from 12 to 16 with Ivy Bridge. With a new and more efficient process the clock frequencies will go up compared to Sandy Bridge but considering the base architecture is the same Ivy Bridge will get 25% better overall performacne thanks to the extra execution units.
On top of the improved 3D performance the support for multimedia playback and video decoding will be a top priority. With barely a year to go before launch we should draw too much from Ivy Bridge and rumors of its performance, but Intel looks to be heading the right direction.
