Tech Shout!

Intel has started the shipment of the Xeon 7300 series processors. The latest entry is a whole new class of workstation and server processor developed to reduce memory lag and enhance the performance for l big tasks, especially with systems that make use of four or more discrete CPUs.

According to Intel, the latest six new Quad-Core Xeon 7300 series processors can deliver more than twice the performance and more than three times the performance per watt over its previous-generation dual-core products.

“Intel Xeon-based multi-processor servers are the backbone of the enterprise,” stated Tom Kilroy, Intel vice president and co-general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group. Adding, “With the Xeon 7300 series, Intel is delivering new levels of performance and performance per watt, and driving the Intel Core microarchitecture into such innovative systems as four-socket, 16-core blades that use less energy than our older models. It’s simply amazing.”

E7340 and E7350 are the two quad-core models, with 8MB of cache, will clock speeds of 2.4 GHz and 2.3 GHz respectively. The power draw will peak at 130 watts for the faster model and lowering to 80 watts for most other models. On the other hand, the mid-range models will be available with 6MB of cache and clock speeds ranging between 1.6GHz and 2.4GHz. A pair of low-end quad models will clock at 1.86GHz and 2.13GHz with 4MB of cache. Only two dual-core versions will be available but should have the same clock speeds as the top quad-core chips and an identical 8MB of cache.

Depending on factors such as speed, features and amount ordered, Intel’s new processors will range from $856 to $2,301, in quantities of 1000.