Intel Corporation today launched two quad-core Xeon processors: X5365 and L5335. New CPUs differ from their predecessors by higher clock speed on the one hand, and lower power consumption – on the other. The new Xeon Processors X5365 and L5335 also contain new virtualization capabilities.

Intel Xeon X5365 is designed to work at 3.0GHz and support 1333MHz bus. However, its power consumption dropped down to 120W. The company has already offered Xeon X5365 as part of Apple Mac Pro systems before, however, these processors featured 150W TDP. The transition of Xeon X5365 processors to new G0 stepping allowed reducing the heat dissipation and power consumption of the top server CPUs and hence stimulated their mass production to take off.

Using the SPECint_rate_base2006 benchmark, which measures integer throughput, a Fujitsu-Siemens PRIMERGY RX300 S3 server based on the quad-core Intel Xeon Processor X5365 scored 98.9, setting a new world record. Using the SPECjbb2005 benchmark, a Dell PowerEdge 1950 server based on the quad-core Intel Xeon Processor X5365 broke the previous record with a score of 238,472 business operations per second.

The second newcomer, energy-sipping Intel Xeon Processor L5335, is positioned for those application fields where not only high performance but also low heat dissipation is crucial. The processor includes a 2.0 GHz clock speed and 1333MHz FSB within a 50 watt power envelope – or just 12.5 watts per processing core.

A number of systems vendors are supporting the new processors, including Dell, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP, IBM, SGI, SuperMicro, Rackable Systems, Verari and more than 40 others.

Intel also integrated advanced technology capabilities into the Intel Xeon Processors X5365 and L5335 to streamline virtualization and further improve energy efficiency. Firstly, in addition to Intel Virtualization Technology, the processors also feature new extensions for improved interrupt handling in virtualization of 32-bit Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. Secondly, these processors include new system-transparent energy smart technology that reduces idle power usage by up to 50 percent.

Quad-Core Intel Xeon X5365 is priced at $1172, Quad-Core Intel Xeon L5335 will be selling for $380.

The launch of X5365 and L5335 became the last addition to the Xeon processor family for dual-socket configurations before the Penryn family announcement.