"Intel has been changing the economics for mission-critical computing server deployments for more than a decade, and today we are raising the bar yet again," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of Intel's Data Center Group. "The new Intel Xeon processor E7 family delivers record breaking performance with powerful new security, reliability and energy efficiency enhancements. The industry momentum we're seeing for this new server processor architecture is unparalleled in Intel's history. The days of IT organizations being forced to deploy expensive, closed RISC architectures for mission-critical applications are nearing an end."

The company also announced a version of the chip that combines the benefits of high performance with low voltage, as well as a frequency-optimized version. The 10-core low-voltage E7-8867L reaches 2.13 GHz with a TDP of 105 watts, while the eight-core frequency-optimized E7-8837 tops out at 2.67 GHz with a TDP of 130 watts. / © Intel

Intel Xeon processor E7 family based-platforms add a massive 2 Terabyte of memory in a four-socket system supported by the new processors. Most of these chips also contain Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, Intel Hyper-Threading Technology and Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT), which can increase performance as required, ease multitasking and enhance reliability and manageability, respectively.

Extensive Industry Support

Starting today, system manufacturers from around the world are expected to announce more than 35 Xeon processor E7 family-based platforms. These manufacturers include Bull, Cisco, Cray, Dawning, Dell, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, Huawei, IBM, Inspur, Lenovo, NEC, Oracle, PowerLeader, Quanta, SGI, Supermicro and Unisys.

The news follows the recent disclosures about the low-power, single-socket Intel Xeon processors E3-1260L and E3-1220L targeted for micro servers, and the announcement of the Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 product family for workstations.

Product, Pricing Details

The Xeon processor E7-8800/4800/2800 families range in price from USD 774 - 4,616 in quantities of 1'000. The Xeon processor E3-1200 family ranges in price from USD 189 - 612 in quantities of 1'000.