Intel Xeon 5600 refresh is scheduled for February 14

With the upcoming releases of Intel Xeon E3 family on February 20, and Xeon E7 CPUs in the next quarter, Intel is going to improve performance of their uni-processor and multi-processor segments of the server market. Mid-class processors for 2-socket servers, which are currently represented by Xeon 5600 family, are going to be replaced by Xeon E5 series only in the forth quarter of this year. The E5 CPUs from E5-2600 series will be coupled with C600 chipset, and they will be compatible with socket R. Before E5 microprocessors are launched, we will see at least one refresh of the Xeon 5600 series. In fact, this refresh will happen in a week, on February 14.

The refresh is comprised of 5 high-performance models, X5647, X5672, X5675, X5687 and X5690, and five standard-power CPUs - E5603, E5606, E5607, E5645 and E5649. Along with the 5600 parts, Intel will also launch Xeon W3690. All 5600- and 3600-series processors are built on 32nm technology, and have from 4 to 6 cores. Designed for socket 1366, these Xeons integrate three-channel DDR3 memory controller. Common features on these chips are Turbo Boost technology, Trusted Execution Technology, and AES instructions, which are used to accelerate data encryption/decryption. With the exception of three entry-level E560x CPUs, all models support HyperThreading technology. The Xeon 5600s have three TDP grades - 80 Watt for E56xx parts, and 95 and 130 Watt for X56xx microprocessors. For more detailed specifications please see the table below:

Model	Cores	Threads	Frequency	L3 cache	TDP
Xeon E5603	4	4	1.6 GHz	4 MB	80 Watt
Xeon E5606	4	4	2.13 GHz	8 MB	80 Watt
Xeon E5607	4	4	2.26 GHz	8 MB	80 Watt
Xeon E5645	6	12	2.4 GHz	12 MB	80 Watt
Xeon E5649	6	12	2.53 GHz	12 MB	80 Watt
Xeon W3690	6	12	3.46 GHz	12 MB	130 Watt
Xeon X5647	4	8	2.93 GHz	12 MB	130 Watt
Xeon X5672	4	8	3.2 GHz	12 MB	95 Watt
Xeon X5675	6	12	3.06 GHz	12 MB	95 Watt
Xeon X5687	4	8	3.6 GHz	12 MB	130 Watt
Xeon X5690	6	12	3.46 GHz	12 MB	139 Watt

At this time, support for Xeon 5600 microprocessors was added to servers from Fujitsu and IBM/Lenovo. Fujitsu CELSIUS M470 Workstation already supports all 5600-seres CPUs, together with Xeon W3690 (PDF file). Lenovo ThinkServer TD230 can work with all new E56xx processors, while the IBM System x3630 M3 also works with X5672 and X5675 models.