by Michael Feldman, HPCwire Editor
On Monday Intel launched its much-anticipated Nehalem dual-socket server chip, the Xeon 5500 processor series. With the inclusion of a number of architectural features, some of which were copied from AMD, the new Xeons represent the most significant redirection of Intel’s x86 server product line in more than a decade and the largest performance increase in Xeon’s history.
Intel Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Digital Enterprise Group Pat Gelsinger orchestrated a Nehalem sales pitch to a live and remote webcast audience on Monday in San Francisco, where he characterized the new 45nm chip as “the most important server launch since the Pentium Pro” — the company’s initial server processor, introduced in 1996.
