All the xeons!!

[TheThirdMan]

So i'm starting to get confused.

I understand the difference between E3, E5 and E7 CPUs (Single, dual, multi socket). But E5 CPUs themselves have E5-2xxx and E5-4xxx (being dual and quad socket).

BUT I just found the E5- 2xxx series have two series of CPUs- the E5-24xx and 26xx series, both are dual socket, but the 24xx is socket 1356, the 26xx is socket 2011. Here's the top-end E5-24xx CPU, just released: Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2470 v2
(25M Cache, 2.40 GHz)

So does anyone know the difference between an e5-24xx and an e5-26xx? I see that the 24xx only have 1 QPI link and the 26xx has two, but if it's only dual CPU does this matter? They're labelled as Ivy Bridge-EP and Ivy Bridge-EN respectively, but i don't know what the difference is supposed to be between the two? Why would i go over the e5-24xx over the 26xx or vice versa? Why are intel maintaining two different sockets, with the same architecture and capabilities (though the 1356 socket and 24xx CPUs seem to have slightly older tech, like triple channel memory instead of quad)?

 

[crashtech]

It gets even stranger when you see that LGA 1356 was released AFTER LGA 2011, making it the "newer" socket. Seems there is a perceived gap between E3 LGA 1150-1155 systems and the full blown DP and MP E5 LGA 2011 systems. LGA 1356 is intended to be an entry-level DP solution.

 

[TheThirdMan]

It gets even stranger when you see that LGA 1356 was released AFTER LGA 2011, making it the "newer" socket. Seems there is a perceived gap between E3 LGA 1150-1155 systems and the full blown DP and MP E5 LGA 2011 systems. LGA 1356 is intended to be an entry-level DP solution.

Which i don't get either, because they seem to be identical pricing wise to the 2011-equivalents. Why would you go for a 1356 setup over a 2011 one? The only advantage i can think of is there are some atx-sized motherboards for 1356 which there aren't for 2011, so you could fit a server into a smaller case.

 

[zir_blazer]

Xeons E5 can go up to 4-way, the 46xx series does.

LGA 1356 24xx supports Triple Channel (Like old Nehalem) instead of Quad Channel. Also, should be cheaper due less features in general compared to LGA 2011 E5 (E7 uses a different version of LGA 2011).

 

[crashtech]

Well the MSRPs are different, the LGA 1356 CPUs are slower and have triple-channel memory. In practice the market may have noticed too many going that way to save a buck, driving up cost in practice. I don't think there is much reason to pay attention to them except maybe for bulk purchases.