The world’s leading manufacturer of processing equipment has just released one of the three chip lines designed on the Core microarchitecture. The Xeon 5100, codenamed Woodcrest, is capable of balancing processing speed and power consumption across various applications.
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| Xeon 5100. Image: TomsHardware |
The Xeon 5100, intended for high-end servers and workstations, operates at 3 GHz, with a front-side bus (FSB) of 1,333 MHz and a power consumption of 80 watts. The 2.33 GHz version, expected to launch in the third quarter, will only require 40 watts.
Intel spokesperson Dan Snyder stated that the new products would increase performance by 135% and save 40% energy compared to previous Xeon processors. “This is particularly important for large organizations that operate thousands of chips simultaneously,” Snyder said.
“The launch of Woodcrest is a significant step for Intel as they have addressed some weaknesses in their server product line compared to competitor AMD,” commented Richard Fichera, an analyst at American research firm Forrester Research.
The Xeon is the first chip in a trio of products that Intel believes will help them compete strongly with AMD. The Conroe version for desktops and Merom designed for laptops will be released in the coming months. “Intel will reclaim the position that has always belonged to us,” declared Tom Kilroy, Intel’s Vice President of Digital Business.
AMD plans to “strike back” at Intel this third quarter with new Opteron products. Three years ago, AMD did not produce server chips, but after the launch of Opteron, they have captured 22% of the server microprocessor market as of the first quarter of 2006.
Intel’s Xeon 5100 will be sold at a price range of $209 – $851 per chip, applicable only for orders of 1,000 units.
P.T.
