Intel moves Nehalem into new niches

Larry Dignan ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 08 Sep 2009 16:58 BST

Intel's Nehalem family of chips is extending into more markets, including entry-level servers and mainstream consumer PCs.

On Tuesday, Intel said its Core i5 processor family, two new Core i7 chips and a series of Xeon chips geared toward small businesses are now available. The chips were formerly code-named Lynnfield.

The new Core i7 chips are the 870, which runs at 2.93GHz, and the 860, which runs at 2.8GHz. The Core i5-570 offers a base clock speed of 2.66GHz. All come with 8MB of cache. The CPUs are designed for high-performance consumer PCs.

For small businesses, Intel has rolled out its Xeon 3400 and 3420 chipsets. The 3400 series of chips is expected to improve entry-level server performance. This line-up includes hyperthreading technology, power improvements and Raid storage features.

Until now, Xeon was geared to large enterprises.

The Xeon 3400 series, from fastest to slowest, are the X3470, the X3460, the X3450, the X3440 and the X3430. They range in speed from 2.4GHz to 2.93GHz.

Intel also introduced a new low-power Xeon chip, the L3426, which is designed for servers in rooms where heat is a concern and space is tight.

ZDNet UK's Karen Friar contributed to this story.