The Intel Xeon E7-2820 was a server/workstation processor with 8 cores, launched in April 2011, at an MSRP of $1334. It is part of the Xeon E7 lineup, using the Westmere-EX architecture with Socket 1567. Thanks to Intel Hyper-Threading the core-count is effectively doubled, to 16 threads. To further increase overall system performance, up to two Xeon E7-2820 CPUs can link up in a multi-processor (SMP) configuration. Xeon E7-2820 has 18 MB of L3 cache and operates at 2000 MHz by default, but can boost up to 2.266 GHz, depending on the workload. Intel is building the Xeon E7-2820 on a 32 nm production process using 2,600 million transistors. The multiplier is locked on Xeon E7-2820, which limits its overclocking capabilities.
With a TDP of 105 W, the Xeon E7-2820 consumes a good deal of power, so decent cooling is needed. Intel's processor supports DDR3 memory with a quad-channel interface. The highest officially supported memory speed is 1333 MT/s, but with overclocking (and the right memory modules) you can go even higher. ECC memory is supported, too, which is an important capability for mission-critical systems, to avoid data corruption. This processor lacks integrated graphics, you might need a graphics card.
Hardware virtualization is available on the Xeon E7-2820, which greatly improves virtual machine performance. Additionally, IOMMU virtualization (PCI passthrough) is supported, so that guest virtual machines may directly use host hardware.