Intel Corp. recently issued a document where it indicated plans to discontinue Intel Xeon processors featuring 533MHz processor system bus. As a result of discontinuance, a number of platforms designed for the chips will also vanish into oblivion.

The list of Intel Xeon products to be discontinued includes 3.20GHz (2MB cache), 3.20GHz (1MB cache), 3.06GHz (1MB cache), 2.80GHz (1MB cache) and 2.40GHz (1MB cache) models. Intel said the demand for those chips had “shifted to higher performance Intel processors”. Customers are advised to place orders on the mentioned chips before February, 24, 2006. The last shipment date of those chips is the 29^th of August, 2008.

Currently Intel’s price-list includes various Intel Xeon processors for 2-way servers or workstations. Clock-speeds of the chips vary from 2.80GHz to 3.60GHz, flavours with 1MB and 2MB level-two cache are available. The chips are designed for 800MHz processor system bus and are made using 90nm process technology. Pricing fluctuates from $198 to $851.

Intel Corp. recently said it would introduce dual-core Intel Xeon microprocessors featuring 800MHz processor system bus for dual-processor servers late this year. More advanced dual-core chips for 2-way apps are expected to sport 1066MHz processor system bus and become available in 2006.