Intel Ships Mean, Green Xeon Machines
The three available 5400 series quad-core processors and one 5200 series dual-core processor that Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel will begin shipping later are the first in the Xeon line to debut as entirely halogen-free, according to Intel. The chip giant further announced that previously launched Xeon 5400 and 5200 series devices will now be made halogen-free as well.
New Xeon quad-cores from Intel include the 50W, 2.66GHz Xeon L5430, priced at $562; the 120W, 3.33GHz Xeon X5470, priced at $1,386; and the 150W, 3.4GHz Xeon X5492, priced at $1493. A dual-core server/workstation chip, the 80W, 3.5GHz Xeon X5270, will be made available later in the fall for $1,172, according to Intel.
The new Xeon processors can be dropped into existing Intel dual processor platforms, the chip maker said.
Intel eliminated lead from its processors beginning with last year's launch of its 45nm class of products commonly known as Penryn, the culmination of more than five years of work to develop lead-free processors. The company built its first lead-free flash memory products in 2002 and by 2004 was able to produce microprocessors that were 95 percent lead-free. Eliminating the last bits of lead required the development of a completely new transistor metal gate structure based on Hafnium, which culminated in Penryn.
The elimination of halogen marked "another step in Intel's march toward minimizing the environmental footprint of its products," the chip giant said in a statement.