Dedication, that’s what you need
Intel has launched seven new 45nm Xeon server processors. Labelled the 7400 Series, they have up to six cores per chip and 16MB of shared memory and, just like AMD, Intel is making a big noise about their virtualisation performance.
"The arrival of these processors extends Intel's lead in the high-end server segment," said Tom Kilroy, Intel VP and GM of the Digital Enterprise Group. "This new processor series helps IT manage increasingly complex enterprise server environments, providing a great opportunity to boost the scalable performance of multi-threaded applications within a stable platform infrastructure."
Apparently the 7400 series has set four-socket and eight-socket records in a bunch of benchmarks. Intel also claims the 7400 series "delivers almost 50 percent better performance in some cases, and up to 10 percent reduction in platform power".
The highest priced is the $2,729 X7460, which runs at 130W and has 2.66 GHz clock and 16MB level 3 cache. The lowest is the $1,177 E7420, running at 90W, 2.13 GHz and 8MB L3 cache. The coolest one is the $1,980 L7445, which uses 50W at 2.13GHz and has 12MB L3 cache. The price of the L7345 has been dropped by 35 percent to $1,498 to make room for it.
Here's Tom Kilroy holding up a die.