* Intel introduces two low-voltage processors
Intel’s quad-core Xeon offerings have grown with the addition of two more energy-efficient chips. The chipmaker introduced two low-voltage processors last week – the quad-core L5320 and L5310. Expect to see systems manufacturers rolling out servers with these chips in the next few months.
The processors consume just 50-watts of energy each, a big improvement for power-conscious data centers when compared to Intel’s current quad-core lineup, which include 80-watt and 120-watt chips. But I wonder if it will be enough to draw buyers away from Opteron.
During the past couple of years, data center managers focused on performance and energy efficiency have turned to AMD since Opteron-based systems have offered higher performance with less of an energy drain. As a result, AMD has been chipping away at a market that Intel has dominated for years, though AMD is still fighting to boost its financials.
In the past year or so, Intel, on the defensive, has been fighting back. It introduced its new Core microarchitecture and began rolling out new chips designed to provide better performance with less energy.
Now Intel sees a big opening with its quad-core lineup since AMD won’t have a quad-core Opteron in systems until the summer. Intel has introduced 11 server, workstation and desktop PC quad-core processors since November.
But are users clamoring for quad-core servers? Are applications ready to take advantage of the quad-core design? It seems like it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for many buyers to wait for the quad-core Opteron. Analysts say the Opteron architecture will make the chip, code-named Barcelona, perform better than Intel’s offerings.
Barcelona will be a native quad-core, meaning that there will be four processing cores on a single die. Intel, meanwhile, packages two dual-core processors to make its quad-core design. In addition, Intel still uses a front-side bus to move data on and off the processor, while Opteron’s Direct Connect architecture links a CPU directly with memory, I/O and other CPUs, avoiding traffic bottlenecks.
“Intel cannot fundamentally catch up with AMD unless it drastically overhauls its architecture, something that’s not planned for another several years,” an AMD spokesman says. “Furthermore, the bar will continue to rise with the upcoming introduction of AMD’s quad-core processor, Barcelona, and innovative new features like dynamic core throttling. Because Intel’s ‘quad-core’ products actually consist of two dual-processor chips packaged together, they cannot achieve AMD’s level of innovative power management.”
What do you think? Let me know.
