Intel unveils 2011 processor - 'Sandy Bridge'

Codenamed Sandy Bridge, the chips will be based on Intel's first new 'visibly smart' microarchitecture produced on the company's fabs at 32nm process technology with second generation high-k metal gate transistors. "The way people and businesses are using computers is evolving at an explosive rate, fueling demand for an even more powerful and visually appealing experience," said Dadi Perlmutter (pictured), executive vice president and general manager of the Intel Architecture Group. "Our upcoming 2nd Generation Intel Core processor family represents the biggest advance in computing performance and capabilities over any previous generation. In addition to offering these features inside Intel based laptops, we plan to scale these advances across our server data centre and embedded computing product portfolio." The processor family will include a new 'ring' architecture that allows the built in processor graphics engine to share resources such as cache, or a memory reservoir, with the processor's core to increase a device's computing and graphics performance while maintaining energy efficiency. The second generation processor also includes an enhanced version of Intel Turbo Boost Technology. This feature automatically shifts or reallocates processor cores and processor graphics resources to accelerate performance, tailoring a workload to give users an immediate performance boost when needed. Laptops and pcs powered by the new processor range are expected to be available early next year.