Intel Corp. on Monday unveiled four new “eco friendly” Intel Xeon processors that not only feature halogen-free packaging, but also achieve new clock-speed heights for Intel Core 2 micro-architecture. Never before has a Core 2-based central processing unit (CPU) worked at up to 3.50GHz frequency.

The new processors are drop-in compatible with existing Intel dual processor (DP) platforms that have been in the market since 2006. The quad-core Intel Xeon processor 5400-series consists of the new X5492, X5470 and L5430 processors, the fastest of which boasts a clock speed of 3.40GHz, while the low voltage version uses only 50W of power or just 12.5W per core. The dual-core Intel Xeon Processor X5270 runs as low as 80W with frequencies as high as 3.50GHz, the first time for a chip based on Intel Core 2 micro-architecture.

The new microprocessors are the first halogen-free chips from Intel Corp. According to Intel, manufacturing of such chips affects ecology much less compared to production of usual microprocessors.

“Intel continues to expand our R&D efforts in eco-innovation while delivering unmatched versatility and performance. Customers using these new Xeon processors will not only benefit from greater performance and energy efficiency within existing platforms, but they will be the very first to use Intel’s halogen-free technology,” said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of Intel’s server platforms group.

Precise specifications of the new processors are as follows:

• Intel Xeon X5492: four processing cores, 3.40GHz, 32KB (data) L1 cache per core, 32KB (instructions) cache per core, 12MB L2 cache (6MB per core pair), 1600MHz QPB, 150W TDP. Pricing in 1000-unit quantities: $1493.
• Intel Xeon X5470: four processing cores, 3.33GHz, 32KB (data) L1 cache per core, 32KB (instructions) cache per core, 12MB L2 cache (6MB per core pair), 1333MHz QPB, 120W TDP. Pricing in 1000-unit quantities: $1386.
• Intel Xeon X5430: four processing cores, 2.66GHz, 32KB (data) L1 cache per core, 32KB (instructions) cache per core, 12MB L2 cache (6MB per core pair), 1333MHz QPB, 50W TDP. Pricing in 1000-unit quantities: $562.
• Intel Xeon X5270: two processing cores, 3.50GHz, 32KB (data) L1 cache per core, 32KB (instructions) cache per core, 6MB L2 cache, 1333MHz QPB, 150W TDP. Pricing in 1000-unit quantities: $1172.

A number of systems vendors are supporting these new processors including Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, Gigabyte, HP, IBM, Microstar, NEC, Quanta, Rackable Systems Inc., Sun Microsystems, Supermicro, Tyan and Verari Systems. The new 5400 series processors are available now, while the X5270 will be available this fall.

Tags: Intel, 45nm