Intel Corporation continues to expand its 45-nanometer (nm) manufacturing chip portfolio with the launch of its first four halogen-free Intel Xeon processors, signaling another step in Intel's march toward minimizing the environmental footprint of its products. The chips reach new heights in performance and energy efficiency. Much of the energy efficiency these new processors provide comes from Intel's advanced 45nm manufacturing capability and its reinvented transistors that use a Hafnium-based high-k metal gate formula. In addition, all previously launched versions of the Intel Xeon 5200 and 5400 series will now be halogen-free.

The processors are drop-in compatible with existing Intel dual processor 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 3.4GHz. The low voltage version uses only 50 watts of power or just 12.5 watts per core. The Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor X5270 runs as low as 80 watts with frequencies as high as 3.5 GHz. Organizations using workstation, high-performance, blade and mainstream servers will benefit most from this increased versatility.

Recent benchmark results on these processors show that Intel continues to deliver higher performance within the same power envelope with each Xeon processor advancement. On the SPECint_rate2006, which measures Integer throughput performance, a SuperMicro SuperServer 6025B-TR+ server running the X5470 processor sets a world record1 with a score of 150. A Fujitsu-Siemens PRIMERGY RX200 S4 server using the X5470 processor running SPECjbb 2005 benchmark extends Intel's lead on Oracle JRockit JVM with a score of 316,728 BOPS.

"Intel continues to expand our R&D efforts in eco-innovation while delivering unmatched versatility and performance," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of Intel's Server Platforms Group. "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."

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.

Pricing and Availability (1ku quantities)
Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor L5430 2.66GHz 1333MHz 50W $562
Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor X5470 3.33GHz 1333MHz 120W $1386
Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor X5492 3.4GHz 1600MHz 150W $1493
Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processor X5270 3.5GHz 1333MHz 80W $1172