14 DAY TRIAL // A new server and data center microprocessor has been spotted on Intel's website, though the timing of it is quite peculiar, given when the chip was supposedly launched.
Intel's product database says that the Xeon E5-1428L CPU was released in the second quarter of the year (2012). However, this is the first time anyone sees this unit, or a reference of it.
This probably means that the Santa Clara, California-based company has been open to orders for it for at least a month and a half and has only now gotten around to updating its website.
Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter at this point. All the relevant information about the CPU is now known.
Xeon E5-1428L is a Sandy Bridge six-core unit (hexacore) with Hyper Threading support, meaning that it can run up to 12 threads (virtual cores) at once.
Like all SB CPUs, it supports VT-x/VT-d virtualization and Trusted Execution.
That said, the chip also comes with a triple-channel memory controller compatible with DDR3-1333 RAM (random access memory).
Furthermore, the chip features a cache memory of 15 MB (L3) and a TDP (thermal design power) of 60W, which is less energy than other 6-core Xeons require.
There is one disadvantage though: the newcomer does not support Intel's Turbo Boost dynamic overclocking technology. Thus, it will never go beyond its base clock speed, which is 1.8GHz.
Finally, Intel Xeon E5-1428L does not support multiprocessing, meaning that there will never be two or more models within a single system. People who favor dual-socket motherboards like ASUS Z9PE-D8-WS should keep this in mind.
Unfortunately, we do not have a price to give. Then again, this is not a product that consumers will have any business buying, so Intel won't lose anything by disclosing the cost on an as-needed basis (when data center makers order a shipment).