Intel today added another feather to its energy efficient offerings. The Xeon quad core L5400 series include two low-voltage 45 nanometer processors for servers and workstations that run at 50 watts, or just 12.5 watts per core and frequencies as high as 2.50 GigaHertz. It takes advantage of Intel's unique 45nm manufacturing capabilities and reinvented transistor formula that combine to boost performance and reduce power consumption in data centers.

According to Intel, the Quad-Core Intel Xeon L5400 processors are as much as 25 percent faster and have a 50 percent larger cache size than Intel's previous-generation, low-voltage Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors, while at the same time maintaining the low 50-watt thermal envelope. The quad-core L5420 and L5410 processors run at 2.50 GHz and 2.33 GHz, respectively, and feature a unique 12 megabytes (MB) of on-die cache and dedicated 1333 MHz front side buses (FSB).

"Using Intel's hafnium-infused high-k metal gate transistors has allowed our quad-core 45nm low-voltage server chips to attain new heights in power-efficient performance," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of Intel's Server Platforms Group. "These chips deliver the speed needed while using meager amounts of energy."

The L5420 and L5410 are now available for $380 and $320 respectively.