Intel is planning to launch the first of its 22-nanometre “Ivy Bridge” processors in the second quarter of 2012, according to Web reports.

Intel will roll out five of the Ivy Bridge chips – three Core i5 processors for mainstream systems and two Core i7 chips for high-performance computers – all but one of which will be quad-core processors, said a report on the X-bit Laboratories Web site.

The Ivy Bridge chips are a more powerful follow-on to the current 32nm Sandy Bridge processors, which were introduced in January. They will feature Intel’s new Tri-Gate transistor architecture, a three-dimensional structure that is said to help boost performance while driving down electrical leakage and power consumption.