Intel Refreshes Its Xeon 5600 Series CPU Lineup

Last week we reported about Intel's plans of refreshing their Xeon 5600 server processor series with the introduction of 10 new models based on the Nehalem architecture, and recently the Santa Clara-based company has made official these new CPUs together with their recommended prices.

The Intel Xeon 5600 refresh includes both processors from the budget E5600 family as well as more powerful chips that belong to the X5600 line.

All the E5600 models carry an 80W TDP and range in speed from 1.6GHz, for the entry level Xeon E5603, to 2.53GHz, for the top of the line Xeon E5649, their prices varying between $188 and $774, according to the CPU-World website.

The number of cores, as well as Hyper-Threading support, and the amount of L3 cache installed differs according to the model chosen.

Moving to the X5600 series, the number of cores also varies, but, this time, all the CPUs support Hyper-Threading, come with a full 12MB of L3 cache and have frequencies ranging from 2.93GHz to 3.6GHz.

The less powerful parts have a TDP of 95W, while faster processors are rated at 130W, the only exception to this rule being the top of the line Xeon X5690 which packs six processing cores, runs at 3.46GHz, and has a TDP of 139W.

Together with these E5600 and X5600 CPU models, Intel also introduced the Xeon W3690, a six-core, 12-thread part that features 12MB of L3 cache, runs at 3.46GHz and carries a 130W TDP.

All the processors are built using the 32nm manufacturing process, integrate a tri-channel memory controller, support Turbo Boost, AES and other Intel technologies and are compatible with LGA 1366 motherboards.

As far as the pricing of the X5600 series is concerned, these start at $774, for the Xeon X5647 and go all the way up to $1663 for the Xeon X5690. The Xeon W3690 is priced at $999.