Intel has been leading the global chip industry as the dominant semiconductor supplier for more than two decades. Intel has launched 1st, 2nd and 3rd Generations (Generation is loosely applied to Intel processors to mean new and significant developments in processor architecture or functions) accordingly. But 2nd and 3rd generation processors are more popular than 1st generation due to various reasons.
There are various differences between these two generations (2nd and 3rd). A second generation Core processor is the family of processors known as Sandy Bridge, which among other things introduced shared cache and placed the memory controller, graphics and CPU on the same die. The 3rd generation is called “Ivy Bridge,” and is basically a copy of Sandy Bridge manufactured on a smaller scale, or die. However, Intel also focused on beefing up the integrated graphics in this generation. Ivy Bridge processors consumes a little less power and gives better (5-10%) performance. You can checout the processors avaialble in both these generations:
Comparing 2nd and 3rd Generation Intel Processors
Here’s the 3rd Generation processors:
Intel Core i5 3570K Processor 3.4 GHz 4 cores
Intel Core i5 3450 Processor 3.1 GHz 4 Core
Intel Core i5 3550 Processor 3.3 GHz 4 Core
Intel Core i7 3770K Processor 3.5 GHz 4 Core
Intel Core i7 3770 Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core
Intel Core i7 3770S Processor 3.1 GHz 4 Core
Here’s the 2nd Generation Processors:
Core i7 Extreme 3960X, 3930K, 3820
Core i7 2700K, 2600K, 2600 and 2600s
Core i5 2550K, 2500K, 2500, 2500s, 2500T, 2450P, 2400, 2405S, 2320, 2310, 2390T
Core i3 2120T, 2100T, 2130, 2125, 2120, 2105, 2102, 2100.
Pentium G860, G850, G840, G632, G630, G622, G620, G630T
Celeron G540, G530, G530T, G460, G440
Now its time for selection, if you are gamer and want super hardware so that your game don’t lag then you need 3rd generation processor as its specialized for graphical work. Due to which processors enables 1080p HD video playback for streaming web content and Blue-Ray. There are more technologies like Visual Technology, Quick Sync Video and HD Graphics which enables 3rd generation processors to be in this generation. This doesn’t mean that 2nd generation processors are nothing, there’s also some power for smooth running of programs and games but extreme gaming is not supported by 2nd generation processors. If you want PC for daily routine work you may buy Intel 2nd generation. In today’s world most of the desktops and laptops run on 2nd generation processors but 3rd generation processors are getting space on the chart fastly.