The Intel Xeon E7520 was a server/workstation processor with 4 cores, launched in March 2010, at an MSRP of $856. It is part of the Xeon lineup, using the Beckton architecture with Socket 1567. Thanks to Intel Hyper-Threading the core-count is effectively doubled, to 8 threads. To further increase overall system performance, up to eight Xeon E7520 CPUs can work together in a multi-processor (SMP) configuration. Xeon E7520 has 18 MB of L3 cache and operates at 1866 MHz. Intel is making the Xeon E7520 on a 45 nm production node using 2,300 million transistors. The multiplier is locked on Xeon E7520, which limits its overclocking potential.
With a TDP of 95 W, the Xeon E7520 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. For communication with other components in the system, Xeon E7520 uses a PCI-Express Gen 2 connection. This processor lacks integrated graphics, you might need a graphics card.
Hardware virtualization is available on the Xeon E7520, which greatly improves virtual machine performance. Additionally, IOMMU virtualization (PCI passthrough) is supported, so that guest virtual machines may directly use host hardware.