Here at last
The much anticipated launch of the Intel Xeon 5500 series of enterprise-class processors - the first to feature Intel's latest Nehalem CPU architecture - happened late yesterday amid much fanfare and the customary superlatives.
Let's cut straight to the chase and list Intel's principal claims for the new products.
- This is the biggest performance leap in Xeon history (based on TPC-C, and online transaction processing benchmark)
- Delivers gains of more than double the previous generation Intel Xeon processor series (5400)
- They can automatically adjust their energy usage depending on demand
- Can dynamically adjust system performance using Turbo Boost, in response to demand
- Claiming a full return on investment within eight months if you upgrade from previous generation processors
- Improved network I/O performance in virtualised datacentres
- Server processor frequencies peak at 2.93 GHz (as high as 3.33GHz with Turbo Boost) with DDR3 memory speeds up to 1333 MHz and power levels of 60 to 95 watts
- Workstation frequencies up to 3.20 GHz (as high as 3.46GHz with Turbo Boost) with power levels of 130 watts, and up to 8MB of level 3 cache per CPU
"The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series is the foundation for the next decade of innovation," said Patrick Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group. "These chips showcase groundbreaking advances in performance, virtualisation and workload management, which will create opportunities to solve the world's most complex challenges and push the limits of science and technology."
As expected most server OEMs have announced new ranges based on the Xeon 5500 series. HEXUS will be attending the formal launch event tomorrow morning and will bring you more details as soon as we can.
