Intel introduces high-performance chips for workstations

The world's biggest chip maker Intel rolled out a line of 'revolutionary' chips on Monday designed as high-performance engines for datacenters, work stations and research computers.

The Northern California company unveiled the Xeon Processor 5500 series that it says will enable customers to "tap new growth markets such as cloud computing, high-performance computing and embedded systems."

The enterprise-class chips, which were developed under a code name Nehalem-EP, save electricity by automatically adjusting energy usage levels and speed data center transactions, according to Intel.

Nehalem chips are quad-core, meaning each is built with four microprocessors that act like brains, divvying up computing tasks.

"Nehalem is a game changer in just about every way, especially performance," said InState analyst Jim McGregor.

"It overcomes most, if not all, the potential performance roadblocks associated with multicore configurations. It creates a foundation for future processors, and it resets performance expectations."

Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, IBM and Sun Microsystems are among more than 70 Intel partners building the new chips into machines such as those used in high-demand datacenters and science research facilities, according to Intel.

"The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series is the foundation for the next decade of innovation," said Patrick Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Digital Enterprise Group.

"These chips showcase groundbreaking advances in performance, virtualization and workload management, which will create opportunities to solve the world's most complex challenges and push the limits of science and technology."'