Previously, all we knew about the launch date of Ivy Bridge processors was that Intel wanted to go for the March/April timeframe, with some recent rumors claiming March is a more likely release date.

However, according to CPU-World, Intel will actually hold the launch event for these processors in April of 2012.

The initial release will cover the third-generation Core i5 and Core i7 desktop products, and Core i7 mobile chips, while the next CPU wave will include the Core i3s and Core i5 mobile microprocessors. This launch will also take place in the second quarter of 2012, while desktop Pentium processors will follow in Q3 2012.

This includes a new on-die GPU that will come with full DirectX 11 support as well as with 30% more EUs than Sandy Bridge, in order to offer up to 60% faster performance that current Core CPUs according to Intel.

In addition, the processor cores have also received some minor tweaks as their AVX performance was slightly increased and Intel has updated the integrated PCI Express controller to the 3.0 standard.

Together with the Ivy Bridge processors, Intel will also release the Z77, Z75, and H77 consumer PCH controllers, but the CPUs will also be compatible with the current LGA 1155 chipsets used for Sandy Bridge.