Intel today introduced the quad-core 3rdgeneration Intel^® Core™ processor family, promising dramatic visual and performance computing gains for gamers, media enthusiasts and mainstream users alike.

Available now in powerful, high-end desktop, laptop and sleek all-in-one (AIO) designs, the new processors are the first chips in the world made using Intel’s 22-nanometer (nm) 3-D tri-Gate transistor technology.

Intel said that its 3-D tri-gate transistor technology and architectural enhancements help make possible up to double the 3-D graphics and HD media processing performance compared with Intel’s previous generation of chips. As a result of the stunning, built-in visual performance, all the things people love to do on their PCs — from creating and editing videos and photos, surfing the Web, watching HD movies or playing mainstream games — are quicker, crisper and more life-like. With as much as 20 percent microprocessor performance improvements and new technologies to speed the flow of data to and from the chips, the new processors further extend Intel’s overall performance leadership.

In the coming months, additional versions of the 3rd generation Intel Core processors will be available to power a new wave of systems ranging from Ultrabook™ devices, to servers and intelligent systems in retail, healthcare and other industries.

The 3rd generation Intel^® Core™ processor with Intel^® HD Graphics 4000 delivers up to two times better 3-D graphics performance compared to the previous-generation processor, bringing more gaming fun with richer detail at higher resolutions. Intel^® HD Graphics 4000 supports Microsoft* DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.1 and OpenCL 1.1.

The 3rd generation Intel Core processor also adds security features, including Intel^®Secure Key and Intel^® OS Guard to safeguard personal data and identity. Intel Secure Key consists of a digital random number generator that creates truly random numbers to strengthen encryption algorithms. Intel OS Guard helps defend against privilege escalation attacks where a hacker remotely takes over another person’s system. These two features join existing platform security features such as Intel^® Identity Protection Technology (Intel® IPT) and Intel^® Anti-Theft technology (Intel® AT) to help make Intel platforms some of the most secure in the industry. When paired with the Intel^® Series 7 Chipset, the new processors with Intel IPT can make a portion of the screen unreadable to spyware with the “protected transaction display” feature, helping prevent a hacker from obtaining login credentials that could lead to identity theft.

Platforms based on 3^rd generation Intel Core processors also deliver faster data transfer capabilities made possible by USB 3.0 integrated into the Series 7 Platform Controller Hub (PCH) and PCI Express 3.0 integrated into the processor. These next-generation I/O technologies bring bigger data pipes to the platform to keep data moving, minimizing any interruption to the PC experience.

Systems based on quad-core 3rd generation Intel Core processor products will be available beginning this month from leading system makers. Boxed versions of these processors will also be available this month from online, retail and channel resellers.

Additional versions of the 3^rd generation Intel Core processor products for servers, intelligent systems in retail, healthcare and other industries, Ultrabook devices and laptops and more will be available later this year.