The company said that the platform is future-proof as it will support future versions of the Xeon such as the multi-core models which are planned for next year. Intel promises a performance improvement of up to 70 percent compared to the previous Intel Xeon processor. generation.
For the first time in any MP server platform, Intel has combined Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology1, PCI Express, DDR2-400 Memory and Demand Based Switching with Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology. Collectively, these features help to expand memory addressability, increase server performance and improve reliability.
The Intel E8500 chipset has a 667 MHz dual, independent front side bus and is designed with 10.6 GBs of system bandwidth, more than three times the bandwidth of the previous generation. These and other features provide the infrastructure to support forthcoming dual-core Intel Xeon processors MP including "Paxville," currently planned for the first quarter of 2006.
Performance Processors |
Price in 1,000 unit quantities |
64-bit Intel Xeon processor MP 3.33 GHz with 8 MB L3 cache |
$3692 |
64-bit Intel Xeon processor MP 3.00 GHz with 8 MB L3 cache |
$1980 |
64-bit Intel Xeon processor MP 2.83 GHz with 4 MB L3 cache |
$1177 |
Value Processors |
|
64-bit Intel Xeon processor MP 3.66 GHz with 1 MB L2 cache |
$963 |
64-bit Intel Xeon processor MP 3.16 GHz with 1 MB L2 cache |
$722 |
Currently only Solaris and Linux support the 64-bit Xeons but on April 25-27 Microsoft will unveil its 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP.