Intel intros 'Tulsa' dual core Xeons

 

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By Steve Malone

Posted on 30 Aug 2006 at 10:38

Intel's fight back against AMD in the multi-core server processor market took another step forward yesterday when the company debuted eight new dual-core Xeon 7100 series processors designed for multi-processor servers.

The new Xeon, previously known by the codename 'Tulsa', is officially known as the Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor 7100 series. It is intended by Intel to support the demands of enterprise applications, i.e. top performance and reliability.

Built on Intel's 65nm manufacturing process, the 7100 series processors boast more than 1.3 billion transistors and 16MB of shared cache, featuring Intel's Cache Safe Technology for improved reliability. The company promises that systems scaling to 32 processors will be available.

The 7100 series is compatible with the existing Intel E8501 chipset designed for dual-core processors that was introduced last year.

The processor family also includes a lower-power, 95 Watt option that reduces energy costs and is aimed at the heat-sensitive blade server market. According to Intel, the 95 Watt dual-core option offers up to 40 per cent less power consumption than the previous generation, providing increased power efficiency and lower energy costs.

Not all prices have been confirmed at the time of writing. The Xeon 7110N processor running at 2.50GHz with 4MB of cache memory will cost $856 over quantities of 1,000 while the 3.16GHz Xeon 7130N chip with 8MB of cache is priced at $1391 and finally the 3.33GHz, 16MB Xeon 7140N costs $1980. Each of these features a 667MHz FSB. Prices for the higher spec 800MHz FSB version have not been announced.

Intel expects that some 40 systems manufacturers will announce product designed around the 7100 including IBM, Dell and Fujitsu-Siemens.

Although strict comparisons are not always the best guide to value, the new Xeon prices compare favourably with the 'Next Generation' AMD Opteron processors introduced two weeks ago. The AMD price range starts at $899 for the 1220 SE dual core model for single processor machine and goes up to $2,149 for the eight-way dual core Model 8218.