Any news on the Intel Xeon Server (Not the PIII Xeon server)

[dullard]

Intel was going to release its Intel Xeon Server in the 4th quarter of 2001. Then they delayed it until the 1st quarter of 2002. I know we are only halfway through that quarter, but has anyone found any information about what will be released and when? Intel says it will have 1MB L3 cache. Intel says it will be minimum of 1.4 GHz, although I think they will start with a faster speed (probably why there was this delay). I'd love to know exactly how many processors will be allowed with it.

 

[Sunner]

Umm, the Xeon is a line of CPU's, used in servers by vendors like Compaq, IBM, etc.

The P3 Xeon's are the ones that are used in the big IA32 boxes right now, up to 8 CPU's.
They come with up to 2 MB L2 cache, and at speeds up to 900 MHz.

Then there's the P4 Xeon's, they're available up to 2.2 GHz, but they're basically P4's with SMT enabeled AFAIK.
I havent seen any boxes with more than 2 CPU's yet.


Then you have the Itanium line, those are completely different beasts.
They're based on the IA64 architecture, and the one available now is the Merced.

Sounds to me like you're talking about the McKinely, the next generation Itanium.
I think it will be available at 1.2 GHz initially, though Im not sure.

It wont be for regular users though, the price will probabaly be over $4.000 for the CPU alone.

 

[ilkhan_v4]

No, he's talking about the P4 Xeons that are meant to be used in >2-way configurations that have an additional L3 cache. I think the codename is Foster. The current P4 Xeons can only be used in 2-way configs, and also don't have L3 cache which allows them to clock higher.

 

[Sunner]

<< I think the codename is Foster >>


Wow, I completely forgot about them, guess it's cause there hasnt been much news about them in ages 😉

 

[dullard]

<< Wow, I completely forgot about them, guess it's cause there hasnt been much news about them in ages 😉 >>



Right, the last news I heard was that they were supposed to be released in December but have been delayed until about now. I was hoping someone has heard anything about them.

I currently run a dual Intel Xeon (1.7 GHz). I want something significantly faster. In my work, there is very little code branching, so there is very little branch prediction error. Thus there is little penalty from the 20 stage pipeline in the P4 and Intel Xeon processors. My programs scale very well with clock speed - a 1.4 GHz Athlon runs about the same as a 1.4 GHz P4. This is unusual, I know. Thus dual Athlons will drastically slow me down - they probably aren't a possiblity. I should be getting money for a better computer in a month or two (money is not an option). I will have 3 good choices:
1) Buy eight computers at roughly 2.5 GHz. Put them in a beowolf type cluster.
2) Buy four dual Intel Xeons at 2.5 GHz. Put them in a cluster.
3) Buy one eight processor Intel Xeon machine. This assumes that Intel releases it with 8 processor capability. This is why I made this post.

Honestly, I'd rather have one machine with eight processors than have to deal with eight separate computers - this is in addition to all the other computers I'm forced to keep running.

McKinly is an option, but won't be released in time. Itanium sucks. Sun and the other similar manufacturers don't provide enough extra speed over a multiple processor Xeon to justify their costs.