Intel Xeon X5570 and E5520 Gainestown Processors

A Pair of Intel Xeon X5570 Gainestown CPUs

Intel has officially announced the Xeon processor 5500 series, previously codenamed "Nehalem-EP," which is the server version of the the Intel Core i7 desktop processor. These new LGA1366 server processors that are derived from the Nehalem microarchitecture and are officially known to be Gainestown cores. These SMP-enabled parts feature a second 6.4GT/s QPI link to broker inter-CPU communication, which is the main difference between them and desktop parts. As far as specs are concerned, the processors support tri-channel DDR3, 4MB or 8MB L3 cache, and an 80-130W TDP. The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series includes many of the same breakthrough technologies that radically improved system speed when the Core i7 desktop processor was launched. Technologies such as Intel Turbo Boost Technology, Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, integrated power gates, and Next-Generation Intel Virtualization Technology (VT) improved through extended page tables, allow the system to adapt to a broad range of workloads.

Intel does not have just one or two of these processors coming out, they have ten Gainestown processors that are on the way to retail markets around the world. When it comes to pricing the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series ranges in price from $188 to $1,600 in quantities of 1,000. Major computer makers, such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and IBM will feature them in servers soon, if they have not already.

130W TDP / DDR3-1333:

• Xeon W5580

95W TDP / DDR3-1333:

• Xeon X5570
• Xeon X5560
• Xeon X5550

80W TDP / DDR3-1066:

• Xeon E5540
• Xeon E5530
• Xeon E5520

80W TDP / DDR3-800:

• Xeon E5506
• Xeon E5504

80W TDP / DDR3-800 / Dual Core:

• Xeon E5502

The Intel Xeon W5580 (BX80602W5580) is the fastest of the Gainestown processors as it operates at 3.20GHz with 8MB of L3 shared cache and a TDP of 130W. Due to this the processor has an MSRP right around $1600 USD each! While I would have loved to get my hands on a pair of Xeon W5580 processors, I was able to get a pair of Intel Xeon X5570 processors to benchmark!

With a clock frequency of 2.93GHz the Intel Xeon X5570 is still a force to be reckoned with and as you can see from the CPU-Z shot above. According to the CPU-Z readings and from what I could tell in the BIOS this 95W TDP processor runs at idle with 0.936V and at full load at 1.104V. These are awesome voltage numbers that are being seen from a recent D0 stepping processor. With a full 8MB of L3 shared cache and a 6.4GT/s QPI link this processor should destroy any other processor that we have ever benchmarked here on Legit Reviews. It should be noted that on the Intel Xeon X5570 the processor operates at 2.93GHz with DDR3 memory speeds up to 1333MHz. Under certain conditions, Intel Turbo Boost Technology can provide operating frequencies up to 3.33 GHz, depending on the processor and system configuration. Let's take a look at Cinebench R10 and find out! I'll also be including the performance results of a pair of Intel Xeon E5520 Gainestown processors that operate at 2.26GHz with a full 8MB of shared L3 cache, but a lower QPI of just 5.86GT/s. Thanks to the lower QPI speed the DDR memory can only run at 1066MHz.

Cinebench R10

MAXON; CINEBENCH R10:

CINEBENCH is the free benchmarking tool for Windows and Mac OS based on the powerful 3D software CINEMA 4D. Consequently, the results of tests conducted using CINEBENCH 10 carry significant weight when analyzing a computer's performance in everyday use. Especially a system's CPU and the OpenGL capabilities of its graphics card are put through their paces (even multiprocessor systems with up to 16 dedicated CPUs or processor cores). The test procedure consists of two main components: The first test sequence is dedicated to the computer's main processor. A 3D scene file is used to render a photo realistic image. The scene makes use of various CPU-intensive features such as reflection, ambient occlusion, area lights and procedural shaders. In the first run, the benchmark only uses one CPU (or CPU core), to ascertain a reference value. On machines that have multiple CPUs or CPU cores, and also on those who simulate multiple CPUs (via HyperThreading or similar technologies), MAXON CINEBENCH will run a second test using all available CPU power. Again, higher Frames/Second and lower rendering time in seconds equal better performance.

Cinebench R10 was able to put a 100% load across all the cores on all of the physical and logical cores, which makes this a great benchmark to look at multi-core platforms.

Results: I was only able to run Cinebench R10 in 32-bit mode since that is what version of Windows Server was installed, but you can see the insane amount of horse power that this 2P server platform has to offer. Keep in mind that the Intel Xeon X5570 is just a 95W TDP processor and operates with DDR3 1333MHz memory! Just for fun I disabled HyperThreading and Turbo Mode in the server board BIOS and ran the benchmark again to see what would happen on just the eight physical cores and discovered a 23% drop in performance. Looks like Turbo mode and HyperThreading make a big difference in this benchmark as without it, the system was just as fast as a server board running a pair of Intel QX9775 processors. The pair of Intel Xeon E5520 processors did fairly well, but was 37% slower than a pair of Intel Xeon X5570 processors.

Lavalys Everest

Benchmark Results: With the 2P server running a pair of X5460 Harpertown 3.16GHz LGA 771 120W TDP processors and 667MHz FB-DIMMs it is no big surprise that it performed at the back of the pack when it came to memory performance. The pair of Intel Xeon E5520 Gainestown processors operate at 2.26GHz with a full 8MB of shared L3 cache, but a lower QPI of just 5.86GT/s. Thanks to the lower QPI speed the DDR memory can only run at 1066MHz and as a result the memory performance suffers compared to the pair of Intel Xeon X5570 processors running at 2.93GHz with DDR3 1333MHz memory modules. The Intel Xeon X5570 processors also benefit from having a full QPI link speed of 6.4GT/s, which is how they support 1333MHz DDR3 memory modules. The extra QPI link speed, clock frequency and memory frequency make the pair of Intel Xeon X5570 processors stand out from the others rather significantly.

Benchmark Results: When it comes memory latency the pair of Intel Xeon X5570 doesn't dissapoint and performs much faster than the other two configurations that I was able to run some benchmarks on.

Benchmark Results: This CPU Queen benchmark is simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic "Queens problem" on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard (see the source of the benchmark). The new Nehalem based Intel Xeon 5500 series processors do great on this benchmark as well as the Worxx CPU benchmark. Some strange results were observed in the AES benchmark though. The AES benchmark is an integer benchmark that measures CPU performance using AES (a.k.a. Rijndael) data encryption. It utilizes Vincent Rijmen, Antoon Bosselaers and Paulo Barreto's public domain C code in ECB mode (check the code out here). It seems that Harpertown does a great job with AES data encryption and was actually faster than the pair of E5520 Gainestown processors.

wPrime and Conclusion

wPrime is a benchmarking application designed to use a highly multithreaded approach to calculating the square-roots of large amounts of numbers (up to 32 billion at this stage!). I ran both the Intel Xeon E5520 and X5570 processors on wPrime Benchmark v1.55 to see how each set of processors do on the 32M speed test and the 1024M stability test.

As you can see from the screen shots above, the performance of both processors in wPrime is amazing. If you take the 32M speed test score and compare it to the database of scores at HWBot the 4.515 second test score would place this test system in the top 20 fastest systems in the world at stock speeds. With a little overclocking I feel that this platform would easily hold the world record in 32M wPrime!

Final Thoughts and Conclusions:

Our quick look at the Intel Xeon 5500 series was a very impressive one. The Intel Xeon X5570 that we looked at today operates at 2.93GHz during normal operation, but when Turbo Boost Technology is enabled the operating frequencies increased up to 3.33GHz. With this much clock frequency and all the performance features that the Intel Xeon 5500 series has to offer you end up with a server processor that blows past the competition without looking back.

When it comes to pricing the Intel Xeon E5520 can be purchased for $394.99 shipped, while the Intel Xeon X5570 can be found for $1448.99 (It has a suggested retail price of $1386). With many IT departments having shrinking budgets this year these will be a tough sell for many companies, but for those with a budget they are able to spend these processors will increase productivity in the server room!

Legit Bottom Line: The Intel Xeon E5520 and X5570 server processors proved to be much faster than Harpertown and will boost productivity for server applications.

Source :http://www.legitreviews.com/article/943/4/

writer : Nathan Kirsch - nate@legitreviews.com