Intel ahead of schedule with new Xeon server chips

From InfoWorld: Intel is set to start production of its next-generation Xeon quad-core server chips ahead of schedule, which could then appear in systems as early as the first quarter of next year, a company official said on Tuesday.

"We're on track for production in the first quarter," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of Intel's server platforms group during an interview at the Intel Developer Forum. The chips will ship to system makers, and servers based on those chips could appear just "around that same time frame," Skaugen said.

The chips will be manufactured using the 32-nanometer process and be part of the Xeon 5000 line of processors. The chips will be based on the Westmere microarchitecture, and will carry numerous upgrades over Xeon server chips available today which are made using the 45nm process.

"It's ahead of our expectations from a production, qualification and a ramp perspective. That's good news," Skaugen said. The chip could go into two- and four-socket servers.

View: Article @ Source Site