Intel’s E3 Xeon’s launching next week

Most on sale, some already benchmarked

It’s almost six months since the specifications of Intel’s (NASDAQ:INTC) E3 series of Xeon processors were unveiled by a Japanese website and new we’re finally a mere week away from the actual launch. Coincidentally a reader emailed us with a few links of some benchmarks of three of the new Xeon E3 processors that he has already managed to purchase ahead of the launch.

So what can we expect at next week’s launch? Well, there should be 11 new Xeon E3 processors as well as three C200 series chipsets being announced, unless Intel has managed to keep some secrets. We’ve covered the processors in some detail here and here already and we’ve got an in-depth look at the chipsets here. We’re also expecting to see a wide range of partner hardware, as is customary at product launches like this.

The event will of course also consist of presentations by Intel and its partners, although we can’t really tell you what to expect here as the information we’ve received so far doesn’t give a lot of details, although it’s guaranteed to be related to the new platform launch. Beyond partner products it’s a little bit hard to get excited about this launch as most of the details have already leaked and in fact, as mentioned earlier, it seems like even the processors have made their way into the hands of users already.

The reader that contacted us runs a website called ServeTheHome and he’s gotten his hands on no less than three different Xeon E3 series CPUs, namely the E3-1220, E3-1230 and E3-1280. None of these models feature integrated graphics, or rather, it’s been disabled by Intel. The E3-1280 is in fact the highest stock clocked Sandy Bridge processor currently available, beating the desktop Core i7-2600 by 100MHz. This also shows in the benchmark numbers where at stock speeds it edges out the Core i7-2600K in every single test.

For those interested in some pricing we can provide you with a quick breakdown of what we managed to find online. The 1220L is available in retail for $265, the 1220 for $225, the 1225 for $231, the 1230 for $254, the 1235 for $277, the 1240 for $288, the 1245 for $301, the 1270 for $374, the 1275 for $386 and the 1280 for $686 rounded to the nearest dollar. Do note that the prices vary between retailers and we suggest you have a look online as these are just some example and not official pricing from Intel. At least the good news here is that Intel has kept the pricing for most models at a very reasonable level compared to their consumer desktop CPUs which makes for a change compared to what Intel normally charges in Xeon tax.S|A

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