Nehalem EP could impress even more

MANY SITES ALL OVER THE WEB, including The INQ, have celebrated Intel's new DP offering, the Gainestown Xeon 5500 Nehalem. Combining the best of the workstation and server multiprocessor, memory and I/O scaling – after all, it could feed four dual-GPU PCIe x16 cards at full bandwidth with two north bridges – and the low memory latency and common high-end cooling desktop compatibility, the beast seemingly gives you the best of both worlds. Whether you want top game frame rates, high server TPC ratings, or top supercomputing app performance, the new dualie gives it all.

But, how much potential extra performance is left on the table? Knowing this is a D0 stepping which can easily pass 4.5 GHz at 1.45v with good air cooling, and what performance gains we had in the UP version - Core i7 for those uninformed - here's the quick and dirty summary, subjective as usual.

Overclocking potential from 3.2 to 4.5 GHz: that's plus 40 per cent ignoring Turbo of course
Memory raw bandwidth from DDR3-1333 to DDR3-2000 assuming CL9 both cases is plus 50 per cent

Real Sandra mem bandwidth benchmark gain from DDR3-1333 to DDR3-2000 adds 32 per cent and Real Sandra CPU performance bench gain from 3.2 to 4.5 GHz incl Turbo use bumps things by 25 per cent

So, either way, if you had a dualie mainboard supporting 200W per socket peak TDP and matching power and memory designs, something like Dual CPU version of Asus Rampage II Extreme or DFI LanParty X58, and Intel was kind enough to do a multiplier-unlocked flavour of Xeon W5580, you'd gain another near half of theoretical performance bragging rights, and anywhere between a quarter and a third extra actual benchmark and possibly application performance in all non I/O or graphics related areas. Asus, DFI and... oh yes, Intel desktop mobo team, how about this?

Ah, this also ignores, say, a dualie follow-on to a freezer like Asetek Vapochill - we're talking possibly about Dual 5 GHz then for everyday use, if your power bill isn't something you bother about.

MacProFreeze, any Apple fanboys? µ