Intel and AMD Up the Server Processor Ante

Intel's Irwindale versions of Xeon are up to 18% faster at the same clock as their Nocona predecessors -- and at the same price. These server microprocessors have the same power management, anti-virus (i.e., NX bit), and 2 MB L2 cache as the Prescott desktop chips announced last week. Some sources say the 90 nm cores between the new server and desktop chips are the same, which would be an interesting convergence.

AMD's Opterons move to a 90 nm process at 2.6 GHz, with the front-side bus clocking up to 1 GHz. Cache stays at 1 MB as AMD focuses on memory bandwidth while Intel needs cache bandwidth to keep the pipeline full.

Peter S. Kastner