Leadership enterprise server with significantly lower cost of ownership in a highly available and
expandable, rack-dense, 1U dual-socket server
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5
•
95W
4-core Xeon
5600
model
X5667
running at 3.06GHz, with reduced draw and impressive
performance/watt
(
23.75W
per core;
6.4GTps
QPI speed
)
,
12MB
of L3 processor cache,
1333MHz
memory access, 2 threads per core, and Intel Turbo Boost technology
•
40W
4-core Xeon
5600
low-voltage
model
L5609
running
at 1.86GHz, with extremely low
power draw and amazing performance/watt (only
10W
per core;
5.86GTps
QPI speed),
12MB
of L3 processor cache, and
1066MHz
memory access
•
95W
4-core Xeon 5500 models
X5550
,
X5560,
or
X5570
running at 2.66, 2.8, or 293GHz,
respectively,
with impressive
performance/watt (
23.75W
per core;
6.4GTps
QPI speed),
8MB
of L3 processor cache,
1333MHz
memory access, and Intel Turbo Boost technology
•
80W
4-core Xeon 5500 models
E5520, E5530,
or
E5540
running at 2.26, 2.4, or 2.53GHz,
respectively, with reduced power draw and
impressive
performance/watt (
20W
per core;
5.86GTps
QPI speed),
8MB
of L3 processor cache,
1066MHz
memory access, and Intel
Turbo Boost technology
•
80W
4-core Xeon 5500 model
E5504
running at 2.0GHz, with reduced power draw and
impressive
performance/watt (
20W
per core;
4.8GTps
QPI speed),
4MB
of L3 processor
cache, and
800MHz
memory access
•
80W 2-core
Xeon 5500 model
E5503
running at 2.0GHz, with reduced power draw (
40W
per
core;
4.8GTps
QPI speed),
4MB
of L3 processor cache and
800MHz
memory access
With the Xeon 5500 and 5600 Series processors, Intel has diverged from its traditional Symmetric
Multiprocessing (SMP) architecture to a Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) architecture. The
processors are connected through serial coherency links called QuickPath Interconnect (QPI).
QPI is capable of 6.4, 5.6 or 4.8 GTps (gigatransfers per second), depending on the processor
model.
2-core Xeon
processors contain
two complete processor cores
;
6-core
processors, similarly,
contain
six
cores. Each 5600 Series processor contains one
256KB L2
cache
per
core and one
12MB L3
cache shared by all the cores. The shared cache is dynamically allocated between the
cores as needed. The multiple cores appear to software as multiple physical processors. The 2-
core processors offer considerably higher performance than a same-speed Xeon processor with
a single core. Likewise, 4-core processors offer considerably higher performance than a same-
speed Xeon processor with 2 cores.
Turbo Boost Technology
increases performance by translating the temperature, power and
current head room into higher frequency. It will dynamically increase by 133MHz for short and
regular intervals until the upper limit is met or the maximum possible upside for the number of
active cores is reached. The maximum frequency is dependent on the number of active cores.
The amount of time the processor spends in the Turbo Boost Technology state depends on the
workload and operating environment, providing the performance you need, when and where you
need it. For example, a
3.33GHz
6-core X5680
processor with
3-6
cores active can run the cores
at
3.46GHz
. With only
one
or
two
cores active, the same processor can run those cores at
3.6GHz
. Similarly, a
3.46GHz
4-core X5677
processor can run at
3.6GHz
or even
3.73GHz
.
When the inactive cores are needed again, they are dynamically turned back on and the
processor frequency is adjusted accordingly.
In processors implementing
Intel Hyper-Threading Technology
, each core has two threads
capable of running an independent process. Thus, a 6-core processor can run
12
threads
concurrently.
Intelligent Power Capability
powers individual processor elements on and off as needed, to
reduce power draw.
Execute Disable Bit
functionality can help prevent certain classes of malicious buffer overflow
attacks when combined with a supporting operating system.
Intel’s
Virtualization Technology
(VT) integrates hardware-level virtualization hooks that allow
operating system vendors to better utilize the hardware for virtualization workloads.
DDR3 Memory with Chipkill ECC Protection
The x3550 M3 ships with registered double data rate III (DDR3) memory and provides Active
Memory features, including advanced
Chipkill
memory protection (using x4 DIMMs), for
up to
16X
better error correction than standard ECC memory. In addition to offering better performance
than DDR-2 or fully-buffered memory, DDR3 memory also uses less energy. DDR-2 memory
already offered up to 37% lower energy use than fully buffered memory. Now, a generation later,
DDR3 memory is even more efficient, using
22% less
energy
than DDR-2 memory.
The x3550 M3 currently supports up to
144GB
of
RDIMM
(registered DIMM) memory in
18
DIMM
slots (
192GB
in
12
slots, as of 2Q/2010), or up to
24GB
of
UDIMM
(unbuffered DIMM) memory in
12
slots (
48GB
in
12
slots, as of 2Q/2010). The x3550 M3 also supports either standard
1.5V
DIMMs, or
1.35V
DIMMs that consume
10%
less energy. Redesign in the architecture of the
