Intel Core i7 3770K Ivy Bridge Linux Performance

Intel's Ivy Bridge Linux graphics driver in the kernel should support all of the wired display interfaces. However, as far as I know, there still is no Intel wireless display (WiDi) support under Linux. The content protection through HDCP/PAVP is also not supported under Linux. Again, Ivy Bridge can drive three displays simultaneously and this feature is already working with the Linux driver. Phoronix three-head-Ivy tests will be forthcoming. Ivy Bridge is Intel's last platform to support LVDS and SDVO configurations. The triple-head Ivy Bridge support can also allow for driving up to two external digital displays from an Ivy Bridge notebook using HDMI or DisplayPort interfaces.

To no surprise, Intel claims that the "game playability" with their third-generation Core graphics is the "best" compared to second-generation Core graphics (Sandy Bridge) being "good", but under Linux, it is really indifferent. Ivy Bridge Linux graphics are faster, but the Mesa driver is still working towards better OpenGL compliance, there aren't any new Linux-native game titles at the moment to take greater advantage of GL3/GL4, and there still is some fundamental issues with the driver in an "out of the box" configuration. For reputable support in the Intel Linux driver with modern games/software, the external S3TC library must be built and Mesa also needs to be built with floating-point textures support. These options are not supported by default since they are patent encumbered. Switchable graphics on Linux has been improving with various ongoing projects, but it is still far from being as good as switchable graphics support under Mac OS X or Windows. As said already, GPU-based OpenCL for Ivy Bridge is also currently not available under Linux.

Ivy Bridge HD 4000 graphics have 16 execution units, clock up to 1350MHz (same as Sandy Bridge HD 3000 graphics), and the maximum output resolution is 2560 x 1600. Another feature not supported by the Intel Linux driver is HDMI 3D display support.

I am not aware of any Intel efforts to bring any Linux software improvements when it comes to any other features like their new Identity Protection Technology or Anti-Theft Technology.

Here is a look at the quad-core Ivy Bridge processors. The high-end Core i7 3770K that's being tested today has a retail price of over $300 USD but has Hyper Threading to provide eight logical cores/threads, a 3.5GHz base frequency, a 3.9GHz Turbo Boost frequency, 8MB of shared L3 cache, HD 4000 graphics with a 650MHz base frequency and 1150MHz graphics dynamic frequency max. The cheapest Ivy Bridge desktop processor making it out today is the Intel Core i5 3450 with an expected price of around $174 USD.