Intel launches first six-core processors

[froggyboy604]

New 7400-series Xeons feature up to six cores in one package, and up to 16MB of Level 3 cache
Six-core Dunnington wafer

Intel’s six-core Dunnington CPUs were one of the worst kept secrets of this year, with rumours appearing as far back as February, when we first reported on them. However, the launch is now official, and Intel has now spilled all the beans about its first six-core CPUs.

The new 7400 series of Xeon CPUs can feature up to six 45nm cores, as well as up to 16MB of Level 3 cache. As well as this, a server motherboard can chain up to 16 of these CPUs together, making for an incredible total of 96 cores in one machine. The new chips use Socket 604.

At the top of the heap is the Xeon X7460, which has six cores clocked at 2.66GHz each, 16MB of Level 3 cache and a toasty TDP of 130W. However, the lower-clocked 2.13GHz Xeon L7455, which also has six cores and 12MB of Level 3 cache, has a much lower TDP of just 65W. This is quite an achievement, as it means that each core effectively has a power level of just under 11W. Five other 7400-series Xeons have been released in various guises, which are listed in the table below.

Of course, these chips are clearly targeted at the server end of the market rather than standard desktop PCs, but it’s always worth keeping an eye on Xeons as a hint of what may come to the desktop in the future. Technologies such as Hyper-Threading, Intel’s first dual-channel DDR memory chipset and even SLI first appeared in Xeon systems, and have since become mainstream desktop technologies. Of particular note are the low power requirements of the L-series chips, with a quad-core Xeon L7445 having a TDP of just 50W.


CPU TDP Cores Speed L3 cache
X7460 130W 6 2.66GHz 16MB
E7450 90W 6 2.4GHz 12MB
E7440 90W 4 2.4GHz 16MB
E7430 90W 4 2.13GHz 12MB
E7420 90W 4 2.13GHz 8MB
L7455 65W 6 2.13GHz 12MB
L7445 50W 4 2.13GHz 12MB


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I wonder how it compares to a quad core CPU.

[SetoTK]

Damnit sweet


they most likely will be marginally faster there froggy