HP adds Ivy Bridge-based all-in-one PCs

Hewlett-Packard's all-in-one PCs and a couple of towers are getting the first Ivy Bridge chips.

Touch-based all-in-one designs put the electronics behind the screen and function like a large tablet. They are a big target market for quad-core Ivy Bridge chips.

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

Hewlett-Packard has joined the Ivy Bridge festivities with new quad-core all-in-ones.

The Palo Alto, Calif., company has bulked up its consumer desktop line with three all-in-ones (AIO) powered by Intel's third-generation "Ivy Bridge" quad-core processor. That chip was rolled out on Monday.

Two of the new models, the Omni 220qd and Omni 27qd, are traditional AIOs -- that is, they don't have touch-capable screens. The TouchSmart 520xt comes with a touch screen.

HP also announced tower systems, the Pavilion HPE h8t and the Pavilion HPE h9t Phoenix. The latter is the company's most powerful Pavilion platform to date.

 

Ivy Bridge Now 3rd Gen Intel Core Processor -- and in HP PCs

There’s been a lot of talk about codename, “Ivy Bridge”. But forget codenames, the 3^rd generation Intel® Core™ Processor is official and here. For those that haven’t been paying attention, it’s all about faster overall CPU performance and better processor graphics on Intel motherboards– that’s the high-level breakdown of what it means.

The “how” is the interesting part. Well, interesting to nerds like me, at least. All this improvement is happening because Intel now shrinks down its manufacturing process to 22 nanometers.  You see, Intel operates on what’s known as a “tick-tock” cycle. At the “tick” in the cycle, Intel introduces a new fabrication process. Last time, it was “Clarkdale” processors reducing Nehalem processors to 32 nanometers back in 2010. Well, it’s time for the next “tick.”

Why is going smaller, better? Well, let me put it this way: Better power efficiency and then some.  The 22nm design helps...

• Reduce average power by up to 20%
• Reduce die size
• Raise the transistor count from 1.1B to 1.4B transistors and as a result just about double performance on visually-intensive activities.

In plain English: For desktops that means you’ll find faster CPUs that can do more and cost less. For laptops, you’re looking at better battery life without having to give up performance to get it.

Something that really matters to me though, is the upgraded graphics on-board the motherboard. We’re talking DirectX 11 support with Intel integrated graphics. That is a big deal. It means that while discrete GPUs will remain king, you’ll be able to find svelte systems (even small laptops) that could potentially keep better pace. Translation: GAMES ON SMALL PCs! OK, personal biases aside, that extra horsepower will mean more machines can edit video – or stream 1080p content (and did I mention, “play games?”) with ease. An old buddy of mine over at Intel was also quick to point out that Quick Sync Video 2.0 is especially handy. It allows mainstream users to work with video much more easily. (Way faster video encoding / decoding. If you want to learn more about it, check it out here.)

So, after this quick description, you’re probably wondering: “Where will I find the new Ivy Bridge architecture?” Fair question. For starters, here are the Desktops that you’ll find 3^rd generation Intel® Core™ processor first appearing in the….

• HP Omni 220qd
• HP Omni²⁷ qd
• HP TouchSmart 520xt
• HP Pavilion HPE h8t
• HP Pavilion HPE Phoenix

All right, so you might notice the lack of laptops mentioned in this post. Well, unfortunately we can’t share that information with you quite yet, but it kinda goes without saying that we have a couple cool little creations on the way. Soon.

In the meantime, feel free to ping me with questions about 3^rd generation Intel® Core™ processors finding its way into HP gear that I am allowed answer. As always, I’m here for you!

Want a slick video breakdown? Intel has you covered in what I like to call "Honey, I Shrank the Intel People"....