Energy efficient chips

Designed for servers and workstations, it is based on its Nehalem-EP design technology previously incorporated in Apple's Mac Pro. The Xeon processor 5500 series, for servers and workstations, is based on its Nehalem-EP design technology previously incorporated in Apple's Mac Pro. The new chips are said to automatically adjust to specified energy usage levels and speed data centre transactions and customer database queries. The Xeon series integrates technologies Intel said will improve system speed and versatility while delivering energy efficiency. The L5518 and L5508 are tailored specifically for the communications market. They include options suitable for applications in thermally constrained environments, such as blades and appliances for communication infrastructure, security, storage, medical applications, carrier grade rackmount servers and router modules. The L5518 offers 2.13GHz and a power level of 60W. The L5508 offers 2GHz and a power level of 38W. The technology has already been incorporated in new products from Concurrent Technology and Radisys. Intel's general manager, embedded and communications group, Douglas Davis, said: "The server business is very competitive, but Xeon will drive a set of requirements for the data centre infrastructure." Patrick Gelsinger (pictured), senior vice president and general manager of Intel's digital enterprise group, added: "The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series is the foundation for the next decade of innovation. These chips showcase groundbreaking advances in performance, virtualisation and workload management, which will create opportunities to solve the world's most complex challenges and push the limits of science and technology."