Intel launches new Xeon chip line 'Tulsa'

It is expected that Intel will introduce a new line of Xeon "Tulsa" chips for the x86 server system to compete with rival AMD on August 29.

"Tulsa" is a series of multi-core server chips, designed for 4-processor server systems (officially called Xeon 7100 series). "Tulsa" comes in two versions: model 7110, 2.6GHz. , cache 4MB - $ 856 price; and model 7140, 3.4GHz, cache 16MB - $ 1,980 price.

Last week, Intel said Tulsa would increase 70% more performance than the previous "Paxville" version. However, Tulsa's comparison object is AMD's Opteron chip. According to Intel, Tulsa is up to 17% faster than Opteron (when handling enterprise database tasks), or 42% (when handling Java-related tasks).

AMD has entered the x86 server market three years ago, and has since been competing with its biggest rival, Intel. Statistics show that at least four major server manufacturers sell, or will sell Opteron chip integrated servers, and AMD itself said its server chip market share has increased by 26%. Prior to that, Intel had to launch strategic cards, typically the Xeon "Woodcrest" chip (for 2 CPU servers), and Tulsa (for more advanced servers).

Tulsa is the final version using Intel's NetBurst architecture. Although based on the old architecture, according to Tom Kilroy, general manager of Intel's business division, Tulsa is still very strong due to the L3 cache (cache) of up to 16MB.

Tulsa is also the first Xeon line to incorporate "Pellston" technology - officially called Intel Cache Safe Technology, which removes temporary memory elements when an error occurs. This is a very important stable feature for high-end servers.

However, it is important to know that not every company can arbitrarily upgrade the cache capacity, because it will increase production costs, and make the chip run hotter. For example, Tulsa with 16MB cache can consume 150w, while 4MB cache only consumes 90w.

Some manufacturers have deployed new servers integrated with Tulsa, including: Dell, HP, IBM and Unisys:

- Dell will sell the PowerEdge 6800 and PowerEdge 6850 servers, including Tulsa for $ 6,900.

- HP will equip Tulsa for the ML570 and DL580 servers, with the same price compared to previous high-end servers. The DL580 costs about 8,297 USD, while the ML570 is 7,477USD.

- IBM will integrate Tulsa for the 4 CPU - System x3850 slot server in late October.

- Unisys will use Tulsa for the ES7000 server series later this year with unpublished prices.