The chip giant yesterday announced truck loads of server processors including the new Intel Xeon 5500 Series. According to Intel, they are firm’s most revolutionary server processors since addressing the market with the Intel Pentium Pro processor almost 15 years ago. So what's special about the newest server processors? Well, all of them are extremely powerful chips designed for researchers and data processing units. Intel reports, the new enterprise-class chips can automatically adjust to specified energy usage levels, and speed data center transactions and customer database queries. They also will play a key role in scientific discoveries by researchers who use supercomputers as their foundation for research, all whilst delivering great energy efficiency for reduced electricity costs.

The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series, previously codenamed “Nehalem-EP,” offers several breakthrough technologies that radically improve system speed and versatility. Technologies such as Intel Turbo Boost Technology, Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, integrated power gates, and Next-Generation Intel Virtualization Technology (VT) improved through extended page tables, allow the system to adapt to a broad range of workloads.

The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series also offers automated energy efficiency enhancements, providing users with greater control of their energy expenditures. This includes a processor idle power level of only 10 watts, enabling a 50 percent reduction in system idle power compared to the previous generation. New integrated power gates, based on Intel’s unique high-k metal gate technology, allow idle cores to power down independently.

The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series ranges in price from $188 to $1,600 in quantities of 1,000. The single-socket Intel Xeon processor 3500 series ranges from $284 to $999 in quantities of 1,000. The L5518 and L5508 embedded processors for communications market segments are priced at $530 and $423, respectively, in quantities of 1,000.