Penryn becomes embedded quad Xeon

CHIP GIANT Intel spruced up its embedded Xeon line a year after the first examples tipped up.

As part and package of the upgrade, the company says it will now increase its extended life cycle support program to seven years, as opposed to the 18 months it previously offered.

Intel's new quad-core Xeon processor 5400 series and the dual-core Xeon processor 5200, are built on the 45nm Penryn design, with power draws ranging between 35 and 80 watts and running at speeds ranging from 2.13 GHz to 3GHz.

The new chips are coupled with the 5100 Memory Controller Hub (MCH) chipset, which, company spinsters claim, offers 29 per cent more performance at 23 per cent less power usage. Uses for the new quad-core Xeons can probably be found in things like medical imaging and telco processing.

The new additions to Intel's processor family are based on a high-k, metal gate transistor formula which supposedly slashes power consumption, boosts switching speeds and enhances transistor density over Intel's previous 65-nm manufacturing technology. Intel says that its new 45-nm CPU-based platforms, for thermally constrained bladed applications, are aimed more toward 200-watt maximum power envelope specifications like the AdvancedTCA and NEBS Level-3 requirements.

Doug Davis, vice president and general manager of Intel's Embedded and Communications Group noted that Intel was "Acutely aware of the performance demands and power consumption concerns of our customers and reached a remarkable 67 percent more compute performance-per-watt when we validated the Intel 5100 MCH chipset-based 45nm quad-core platform". He added that the new additions were "an excellent choice for compute-intensive applications such as IMS and platforms for storage, routers and security."

In a move that they reckon will lessen environmental impact, Ericsson has said it'll introduce Intel's new quad-core Xeon processor-based IMS/Core network nodes and application servers, also allowing operators and service providers to host more subscribers in a smaller footprint, which also, conveniently for Ericsson, lowers the total cost of ownership.

Intel also said it had enhanced the Intel Carrier Grade Server TIGW1U, Intel IP Network Server NSW1U and Intel IP Network Server NSC2U.

The 45nm processors with their extended lifecycle support range in price from $321 to $690. The dual-core 35 watt Intel Xeon processor L5238 will be available in April, whilst the Intel 5100 MCH chipset is already available starting at $76. µ