Intel Xeon "Nehalem-EX" Processor announced

Intel Corporation has announced a new Intel Xeon processor codenamed “Nehalem-EX.” The processor will be at the heart of the next generation of intelligent and expandable high-end Intel server platforms, which will deliver a number of new technical advancements and boost enterprise computing performance. It that has designed for work dual-processor server and workstation platforms.

The processors will feature 2.3 billion transistors built using Intel's 45nm high-K metal gate technology.Promised to deliver a number of new technical advancements and boost enterprise computing performance, the Nehalem-EX Xeon features up to 8 core inside a single chip supporting 16 threads and 24Mb of cache.Nehalem-EX will add new reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) features traditionally found in the company's Intel® Itanium processor family, such as Machine Check Architecture (MCA) Recovery. Together with new levels of performance, both high-end processors should speed the move away from more expensive, proprietary RISC-processor based systems.

As its name suggests, the Nehalem-EX is based on the Nehalem microarchitecture which debuted with the Xeon 5500 and Core i7 series processors. The Nehalem-EX series however, will be decidedly more high-end in terms of specifications and performance.Whereas current Xeon 5500 series processors feature four execution cores per CPU with support for up to eight threads through the use of Hyper-Threading, the Nehalem-EX series will be outfitted with up to eight execution cores per chip.

With new RAS capabilities for high-end enterprises, Nehalem-EX can accelerate IT adoption of Intel-based platforms over RISC-based platforms by delivering a lower total cost of ownership, higher performance, lower electricity bills and the ability to standardize on a flexible IT environment.

Intel says, the Nehalem-EX will offer up to nine times the memory bandwidth of the previous-generation Intel Xeon 7400 platform with up to double the memory capacity through the use of 16 memory slots per processor socket. It will provide tremendous scalability, from large-memory two-socket systems through eight-socket systems capable of processing 128 threads simultaneously without the need for third-party chips to "glue" the platform together. Additional scalability options including greater sockets counts will be possible with third-party solutions.

Intel Xeon Nehalem-EX Features:

• Intel scalable memory buffer and scalable memory interconnects
• Up to 9x the memory bandwidth of previous generation
• Support for up to 16 memory slots per processor socket
• Advanced RAS capabilities including MCA Recovery
• 2.3 billion transistors
• Scalability up to eight sockets via Quick Path Interconnects and greater with third-party node controllers
• QuickPath Architecture with four high-bandwidth links
• 24MB of shared cache
• Integrated memory controllers
• Intel Turbo Boost Technology
• Intel Nehalem Architecture built on Intel’s unique 45nm high-k metal gate technology process
• Up to 8 cores per processor
• Up to 16 threads per processor with Intel® Hyper-threading

Scalability beyond eight sockets, up to 32-socket implementations can be achieved.The Intel Itanium processor delivers mainframe-class reliability for mission-critical workloads and enables the greatest scalability, especially for highly threaded workloads. Itanium offers greater than eight-socket system configurations and is ideal for applications that access the largest memory pools.The processors will also offer four high-bandwidth QuickPath Interconnect links per CPU to provide significant scalability, from large-memory two-socket systems through eight-socket systems capable of processing 128 threads simultaneously.

Together with new levels of performance, both high-end processors should speed the move away from more expensive, proprietary RISC-processor based systems. Nehalem-EX is scheduled for production in the second half of 2009.