Intel has released the new Haswell-based Xeon chips, namely the Xeon E5-2600 and E5-1600 v3 chips, as the company's latest groundbreaking processors for workstations and servers.
The chips are also known and previously code named as the Grantley chips.
Intel promises a boost in performance of up to three times compared to the previous batch of Xeon chips, along with top-of-the-line efficiency in power usage and better security.
Chips that are part of the Xeon E5-2600 line feature processors with a maximum of 18 individual central processing cores. The chips are described as general-purpose enablers for back-end usage such as for high-performance computing, data analysis, cloud-based functions, telecommunications, and Internet of Things support.
Chips that are part of the Xeon E5-1600 line, on the other hand, are reserved for the more powerful computers.
The price for the 26 chips in the Xeon E5-2600 line range from $213 to $2,702 each in batches of 1,000 pieces, while the price for the Xeon E5-1600 chips range from $295 to $1,723 each.
According to Intel Data Center Group senior vice president and general manager Diane Bryant, the economy for digital services is imposing new requirements that companies need to address to provide the services efficiently.
Bryant said that the new processors of Intel are capable of delivering unparalleled performance, efficiency in power usage and security, along with adding capabilities in hardware resources for the utilization of infrastructures defined by software.
The new Xeon chips of Intel are manufactured using the company's 22nm Haswell architecture, which features first-generation 3D Tri-Gate transistors.
Intel recently launched the Core M processor, which was manufactured using the company's 14nm Broadwell architecture.
The power efficiency of the Core M processor, which consumes only 4.5 watts of power, will allow computer manufacturers to create designs for thin, fanless hybrid notebooks that will challenge the position of tablet computers in the market.
Intel said that it will be shifting several product lines, including the Xeon chips, to the Broadwell architecture over the next several quarters.
Moor Insights & Strategy principal analyst Patrick Moorhead said that the boost in performance with the new Xeon chips is not the major story. Instead, it is the improvements that Intel made over several areas in the new Xeon line, particularly those in the maturation of its server platforms.
Moorhead added that enterprises should strongly consider shifting to Grantley-based products, as the move would save companies significant operating expenses, while setting them up for the next stage of an infrastructure that is defined by software.
