Knockout: Intel’s Woodcrest 3.0 GHz outclasses AMD’s Opteron

Intel’s Woodcrest processor sets the pace with a new architecture comprising a 3.0 GHz dual-core, 4 MB L2 cache, and a 1333 MHz front side bus – and tecCHANNEL tested this core CPU before its launch in June!

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Intel can finally rear up its head again. For a long time, Intel had nothing serious to pitch against AMD’s Opteron processor. In particular, Intel’s 2.8 GHz dual-core Xeon Paxville DP for two systems was hopelessly inferior to Opteron’s dual cores. But Intel is ringing in an era with the Xeon Woodcrest boasting a new dual-core architecture for top-notch performance with significantly lower power consumption.

Part of Intel’s Xeon family, the Woodcrest processor for two-way systems can work with clock speeds of up to 3.0 GHz. Both cores share the same 4 MB L2 cache. Intel has raised the speed of the front side bus to 1333 MHz. Each Woodcrest processor has its own FSB to the chipset designed for the new platform code named Bensley for servers and Glidewell for workstations.

The official unveiling of the Xeon Woodcrest processor is scheduled for June 2006 . This core processor for the LGA771 socket is pin compatible with the Xeon 5000 series Dempsey, which is soon going to become superfluous in the face of the impressive performance of the Woodcrest chip. tecCHANNEL was in Intel’s D1D fab in Hillsboro, Oregon, where we used our own software to conduct an advance test of the new generation Xeon Woodcrest processor clocking at 3.0 GHz. The Woodcrest is chip was pitched against former Xeon models, other new Dempsey-based Xeon 5000 series, plus AMD’s dual-core Opteron 280 and the single-core variant 254.