Westmere-EX: Intel Improves their Xeon Flagship
by Johan De Gelas on April 6, 2011 2:39 PM EST- Posted in
- IT Computing
- Intel
- Nehalem EX
- Xeon
- Cloud Computing
- Westmere-EX
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.
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pugster - Thursday, April 7, 2011 - link
Our company is planning to buy a couple of blades but they have the older generation x56xx cpus. I hope that they have this available soon.Michael REMY - Sunday, April 10, 2011 - link
i'd like to see 3d benchmark performances....it should be awesome !