Intel's 22nm processors, better known as Ivy Bridge, are fresh out of the fab and have given the Santa Clara's Core architecture a kick in the pants. But is the successor to Sandy Bridge and Sandy Bridge-E already old news? Not exactly, though a peek at Intel's Research & Development roadmap reveals that a 14nm manufacturing process is already in development, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) managed to beat Intel's Ivy Bridge to the launch-day punch on a technicality when the Santa Clara chip maker began shipping Trinity and Brazos 2.0 APUs to OEMs last quarter, but as far as retail availability goes, AMD in April would only say the new parts "will be available globally soon." It appears "soon" really meant "next month," at least for notebook parts, and August for desktop chips.

Intel stepped up to the plate and seemingly hit a homerun with its Ivy Bridge architecture (which, by the way, is now showing up in retail). It's the first commercial processor to boast a 22nm manufacturing process and 3D transistors, a combination that ultimately leads to better performance with less power consumption than previous generation processors. At the same time, some have reported higher temps with Ivy Bridge compared to Sandy Bridge, and it could have to do with the way Intel attached the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS).

Throughout the years, AMD's strategy against Intel has been to undercut the Santa Clara chip maker in price, though that's not necessarily by design. Clock for clock, AMD's processors don't usually pack the same performance punch as Intel's silicon, and that's especially true with the launch of Intel's Ivy Bridge architecture. In response to Ivy Bridge, AMD decided another round of price cuts was in order.