By constantly pursuing its tick-tock development strategy of alternating microarchitecture revamps and process advancements, Intel guarantees a nearly continuous sense of forward motion in its processor designs. With this year’s version, which Intel calls its third-generation Core CPU (and was code-named Ivy Bridge), the innovation is a “tick,” or a move to a new production process (in this case, 22nm). The foremost model in this new line is the Core i7-3770K ($313 list): It doesn’t introduce a ton of features over and above what we saw last time with Sandy Bridge, but it makes some notable improvements in a few key areas—and one that could have significant positive implications for the dedicated mainstream users to whom this chip, and others in the Ivy Bridge line, are targeted.

It’s important to note first off that the various features introduced on Sandy Bridge CPUs, such as the Core i7-2600K and Core i5-2500K , a year ago are still in force this time around. These include three proprietary “Smart” technologies: Smart Response, which ups performance by caching frequently used data to an SSD; Smart Connect, which automatically updates email, apps, and social networking data even when the computer is asleep; and Rapid Start, which decreases boot times. (The last two of these will be particularly useful for owners of Ivy Bridge–based Ultrabooks.)

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Other useful capabilities, such as Quick Sync Video for expedited video rendering and conversion, and Wireless Display, for transmitting your computer’s display to your HDTV, are on hand as well. Then there are manageability and security features, like Identity Protection (a two-stage authentication procedure) and Anti-Theft (a way to remotely disable a stolen system). And of course traditional Intel technologies, like Turbo Boost, which dynamically increases your CPU speed when you have the headroom available for it, and Hyper-Threading, which effectively doubles the number of processing threads you have at your disposal, are present as well.

But Ivy Bridge chips, which are the first to utilize the new 3D transistors Intel announced last year, enable other enhancements as well. Support for PCI Express (PCIe) Generation 3.0, 6Gbps SATA III, integrated USB 3.0, and a broader scope of wireless access methods improve compatibility now and in the future. And because Ivy Bridge chips like the Core i7-3770K are intended for more middle-of-the-road users, they come loaded with integrated graphics systems that can drive up to three independent displays and support HDMI 1.4a and its associated high-quality audio, in addition to InTru 3D (for stereoscopic 3D) and HD video conferencing. Further under the hood, a new hardware-based random number generator and system for protecting against malware define Ivy Bridge’s security enhancements, and changes to overclocking support allow for real-time adjustments, higher limits and CPU multipliers, finer-tune control over DDR frequencies, and support for Extreme Memory Profiles (XMP) version 1.3.

It’s clear that Intel has spent a lot of time focusing on how the consumers most likely to buy Ivy Bridge systems will actually use them, and tweaked the chip’s feature set accordingly. A nice touch, however, is that you don’t automatically need to upgrade your motherboard to one using the new 7 Series Chipset in order to get all these benefits. Because Ivy Bridge chipsets are completely compatible with the LGA1155 socket and chipset, they’ll work in Sandy Bridge motherboards too (though only the H61, H67, P67, and Z68 chipsets are supported). You won’t get every single feature, but you’ll get a lot of them, plus compatibility improvements and performance of the new chips as part of the deal.