New 3rd Generation Intel Core (Ivy Bridge) empowered laptops have hit the marketplace, do I need to upgrade my gaming notebook with these latest 22nm processors or chipsets? This question is being asked by thousands of gamers and ordinary laptop owners who want the latest specs and highest performance levels for their systems. There are two ways to answer this question.

First, if you have just bought or purchased a gaming notebook with the old (can\’t believe we are already saying this) Sandy Bridge processors and your system performs all your games at the highest levels (or what every level you like to play your games at) then there\’s no problem. Your current laptop is quite adequate and you don\’t really need to upgrade.

Keep in mind, we are talking about high-performing laptops here, if you just want a device for web-surfing, email, watching movies and doing simple word processing – then just about any laptop on the market will satisfy your requirements and meet your needs. In that same light, if you do have a high-performance rig and it meets all your requirements, there really is no need to waste money on an upgrade or a new notebook.

However, gamers are usually a strange lot, they simply want the best of \”everything\” in their gaming machines. So the only question left to ask: \”Is Ivy Bridge better than Sandy Bridge?\”

Comparing just the speeds alone, the next generation of Quad Core processors are slightly faster. For example, take the top of the line Sandy Bridge – the Core i7 Extreme 2960XM with 2.7 GHz and boost to 3.7 GHz using one core. Now compare this the top Ivy Bridge – the 3920XM at 2.9GHz with boost to 3.8GHz running one core. Server and desktop processors will have slightly different performance levels.

However, speeds are one thing but how a laptop performs in the actual video gaming environment is something entirely different. Excess heat is one major problem most gamers have experienced at one time or another. There has been talk in some of the gaming forums about heat issues with Ivy Bridge processors, especially when they\’re over-clocked. Overclockers.com is reporting that Ivy Bridge run about 20