Westmere-EX SKUs and Performance

Intel has three general classifications for the new 10-core processors. The E7-x870 runs at 2.4GHz and has a 30MB L3, while the E7-x860 runs at 2.26GHz and the E7-x850 runs at 2.13GHz; the lower clocked models are also downgraded to a 24MB L3. As there are versions for 8-, 4-, and 2-socket servers, we get nine new SKUs. Pricing on the highest end 8-socket models is very high, but that's not too surprising for the target market: the E7-8870 costs $4616, the E7-8860 goes for $4061, and the E7-8850 comes with a "bargain" price of $3059. For quad-socket chips, you can knock that down about $225, and dual-socket chips will reduce prices another $175 or so.

What this means is pricing for the fastest Xeons has increased by about $1000, a clear sign that Intel does not expect any competition in the small but profitable high-end x86 market. And indeed, the current AMD "Magny-cours" is targeted at the midrange server market, not the high-end. Bulldozer will be AMD's attempt to take on these new Xeon models, and it probably won't attack this high-end market before the end of the year.

Also present is a low power E7-8867L, which runs 10 cores at 2.13GHz but needs 105W instead of the 130W of the E7-8850. For the 25W drop in TDP, the price jumps up to $4172.

The E7-8837 is another interestin processor. It has eight cores and forgoes Hyper-Threading, so it's like the Nehalem-EX but with a 2.67GHz clock it runs 18% higher than the fastest Nehalem-EX CPUs. Thus, it looks like the 45nm to 32nm transition either delivers two extra cores and a 6% clockspeed increase, or it improves clocks by 18% with the same number of cores. Below is the complete table of new SKUs.

Intel Xeon Westmere Specifications and Features
Processor Number Frequency L3 Cache Cores / Threads Turbo / HTT TDP 1kU Pricing
Xeon E7-8870 2.4GHz 30MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 130W $4,616
Xeon E7-8860 2.26GHz 24MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 130W $4,061
Xeon E7-8850 2.00GHz 24MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 130W $3,059
Xeon E7-8830 2.13GHz 24MB 8 / 16 Yes / Yes 105W $2,280
Xeon E7-8867L 2.13GHz 30MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 105W $4,172
Xeon E7-8837 2.67GHz 24MB 8 / 8 Yes / No 130W $2,280
Xeon E7-4870 2.40GHz 30MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 130W $4,394
Xeon E7-4860 2.26GHz 24MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 130W $3,838
Xeon E7-4850 2.00GHz 24MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 130W $2,837
Xeon E7-4830 2.13GHz 24MB 8 / 16 Yes / Yes 105W $2,059
Xeon E7-4820 2.00GHz 18MB 8 / 16 Yes / Yes 105W $1,446
Xeon E7-4807 1.86GHz 18MB 6 / 12 No / Yes 95W $890
Xeon E7-2870 2.40GHz 30MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 130W $4,227
Xeon E7-2860 2.26GHz 24MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 130W $3,670
Xeon E7-2850 2.00GHz 24MB 10 / 20 Yes / Yes 130W $2,558
Xeon E7-2830 2.13GHz 24MB 8 / 16 Yes / Yes 105W $1,779
Xeon E7-2820 2.00GHz 18MB 8 / 16 Yes / Yes 105W $1,334
Xeon E7-2803 1.73GHz 18MB 6 / 12 No / Yes 105W $774
Xeon E3-1280 3.50GHz 8MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 95W $612
Xeon E3-1275 3.40GHz 8MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 95W $339
Xeon E3-1270 3.40GHz 8MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 80W $328
Xeon E3-1260L 2.40GHz 8MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 45W $294
Xeon E3-1245 3.30GHz 8MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 95W $262
Xeon E3-1240 3.30GHz 8MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 80W $250
Xeon E3-1235 3.20GHz 8MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 95W $240
Xeon E3-1230 3.20GHz 8MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 80W $215
Xeon E3-1220L 2.20GHz 3MB 2 / 4 Yes / Yes 20W $189
Xeon E3-1225 3.10GHz 6MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 95W $194
Xeon E3-1220 3.10GHz 8MB 4 / 8 Yes / Yes 80W $189

Taken together, the two extra cores (up to 25% more performance) and a 6% clock increase, along with some subtle core improvements, mean the Westmere-EX parts should deliver 20-40% more performance within the same TDP. It's not enough to revolutionize the server space, but more performance per watt is nothing to sneeze at.

Comparing Westmere-EX and Nehalem-EX Our Test Server
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  • Barfo - Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - link

    First!
  • quiksilvr - Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - link

    Imbecile.

    Moving on, I like seeing Intel push forward, but those prices are quite high.
  • mariush - Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - link

    I'd be happy to be just low enough to make AMD drop prices on their 12 and 16 cores processors.

    Hoping to be able to afford a 7-900$ quad G34 motherboard and 4 x 500-700$ 12/16 core processors in the near future.
  • MySchizoBuddy - Thursday, April 7, 2011 - link

    AMD has 16 core processors? when did that happen
  • MrSpadge - Sunday, May 1, 2011 - link

    He may be referring to the coming Bulldozers with 6 and 8 modules.

    MrS
  • H8ff0000 - Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - link

    Shouldn't this be a ban-able offense on every forum / comment-enabled website? Childishness abounds.
  • tipoo - Wednesday, April 6, 2011 - link

    It should be.
  • taltamir - Thursday, April 7, 2011 - link

    I concur
  • Slash3 - Thursday, May 19, 2011 - link

    I second the concurrance.
  • Griswold - Thursday, April 7, 2011 - link

    Eliminate them. All of them.

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