LWD - Intel Woodcrest Xeon Preview

While many know that Intel will push the "Core" architecture for the desktop in the form of the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors in the next month, many are not aware that Intel will also be selling the same basic processor in a workstation variant as well, which is what we're looking at today. The "Core" models which are targeted at the desktop are produced under the "Woodcrest" codename, and are nearly identical in design to the Core 2 Duo which will be seen on the desktop, but feature faster front side bus speeds and multi-processor support. Much like Intel used the same basic processor design for their "Presler" Pentium-D processors and “Bensley” Xeon 5000-series processors, the same “Core” architecture is being used in multiple places with their new product lineup.

These new "Woodcrest" Xeon processors will be sold under the Xeon 5100-series name, and will likely go on sale before the Core 2 Duo for the desktop will. Thus, if you want to get your hands on this technology first, read-on. In addition, seeing multiple "Woodcrest" processors in action also gives us a very vague preview-of-sorts to what Intel has in store for 2007 as well, as they will be merging multiple Core 2 Duo-like cores into a single quad-core processor (codenamed : Clovertown). Multiple "Woodcrest" Xeon processors will provide us with quad-core systems today, albeit the cores are split up over multiple processors. Without further adieu, let's see what Intel's new architecture is capable of.