Media and Consulting firm UBM TechInsights says it was able to obtain a sample of Intel's 22 nm Ivy Bridge processor ahead of the CPU's official launch.
The company deconstructed the chip and performed a structural analysis that is planned to be released in two parts on May 4 and May 18. Some images have been released by EETimes, which is also part of UBM.
According to TechInsights, the 3.3 GHz Core i5-3550 was packaged in Malaysia and has a die size of 170 mm2, which is down from 208 mm2 for a comparable Sandy Bridge processor. The company analyzed the processor using electron microscopy as well as "x-ray techniques" and spreading resistance profiling and said it discovered 90 nm gate pitches in the embedded SRAM, but also 22 nm gate lengths in the logic areas.
A published picture confirms Intel's 22 nm tri-gate 3D transistors. 
Best Sandy Bridge processor is still 20% faster than anything AMD has made.
Ivy Bridge will also be about a 20% performance boost.
No wonder Intel has delayed their tick for 3 months, no competition at all.
Please take your fanatism elsewhere. This is a tech site. AMD makes good processors for low to mid-range pricepoints, not for high-end.
Yeah, just like all AMD CPUs in last few years!
Oh, wait...