INtel Xeon

Report: Intel to release new server chips in early August

According to a report in Digitimes, which cites anonymous industry sources, Intel will launch four more Xeon server chips early next month.

The quad-core chips include processors in the 5500 (ie. “Nehalem”) and 3000 Xeon chip line. Let’s take a look:

• W5590: You can see here that the quad-core W5580 runs at 3.2GHz with 8MB of cache and consumes 130 watts. Expect the W5590 to have a slightly faster clock speed, as that seems to be the pattern.
• L5530: The L5520 is a lower-power quad-core chip (60W) running at 2.26GHz with 8MB of cache. Again, expect a slightly higher clock speed.
• W3580: From the specification page for the 3000 series, you can see that the W3570 is a quad-core chip running at 3.2GHz with 8MB of cache and consuming 130 watts.
• W3550: The W3540 is a quad-core chip running at 2.93GHz, 8MB cache, 130W.

A couple months ago, Intel showed off the so-called Nehalem-EX chip, an eight-core processor from the Xeon 7400 series that is expected out later this year.

Intel lowers Xeon prices on declining CPU sales

Intel Corp. dropped prices up to 40% on some of their Xeon processors this week following the release of some ugly financials for the fourth quarter of 2008 - so if you are in the market for an upgrade (and have any money in your IT budget) now’s the time.

The new prices on server CPUs include a drop on Intel’s quad-core Xeon X3370 from $530 to $316 (40% drop) and the 45nm quad-core X3360 from $316 to $266 (16% price cut).

According to Intel spokesperson Nick Knupffer, the company regularly makes price cuts throughout the year and that is what the recent price change reflects.

But, one would presume that these cuts aren’t just a routine act; Intel’s Q408 profit plummeted 90% and the company predicts even weaker conditions ahead. Intel, which twice lowered its fourth-quarter sales forecast, reported quarterly sales fell 23% from a year earlier to $8.23 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Of course, Intel isn’t alone in the gutter; AMD’s CPU sales also slummped in 2008 and it expects sales to decline further through the first quarter of this year due to poor economic conditions.

Despite AMD’s reported a $1.42 billion fourth-quarter loss, a spokesperson claims there aren’t any price cuts on the docket for its server CPUs. “AMD moves prices on their products, and in this case speaking for Opteron, as required by the market. There is no regular price move schedule in place.”

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