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.