SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 5, 1999 - Intel Corporation today announced the latest additions to its PentiumŪ II Xeon™ processor family with three new 450-MHz versions. The new processors incorporate 512 KB, 1 MB and 2 MB of Level 2 (L2) cache, to support servers and workstations using four or more processors. These additions to the Pentium II Xeon processor family provide the necessary performance and features required to support business critical server applications such as e-commerce, enterprise resource planning, and decision support service at exceptional levels of price/performance.
With their increased scalability and flexibility, new Pentium II Xeon processor-based systems have demonstrated the highest four-way performance in the industry, as well as the highest single-system transaction performance via a 64-way processor-based system. Systems based on these new processors with 2 MB of L2 cache have demonstrated more than 10 percent greater performance than systems using a 400-MHz Pentium II Xeon processor with 1 MB of L2 cache. These systems have also shown a 10 percent price/performance improvement.
The new processors are expected to accelerate the already strong industry acceptance of Pentium II Xeon processor-based servers.
"The challenges faced in the enterprise are never-ending, as the needs for greater performance, scalability and flexibility increase daily," said John Miner, vice president and general manager of Intel's Enterprise Server Group. "Pentium II Xeon processor-based servers meet these needs by offering industry-leading performance for four-way and greater systems. This performance, offered at a tremendous value to the customer, has made the Pentium II Xeon processor the fastest selling server processor in Intel's history."
"The release of the Pentium II Xeon processor 450 Mhz with 2 MB L2 cache is another proof point of the scalability and performance of IntelŪ Architecture," said Kevin Walsh, vice president, Intel Technologies Division, Oracle Corporation. "The combination of Oracle8i* with this latest processor provides a world-class platform for Oracle to deliver enterprise-level customer solutions."
"As our customers expand their R/3 investment from enterprise execution to customer interaction, Intel's Pentium II Xeon processor 450 MHz with 2 MB L2 cache can provide the power needed to run these extended enterprise systems," said Guenther Tolkmit, senior vice president of Corporate Marketing, SAP America, Inc. "The combination of Intel's new processor with the SAP New Dimension offerings, enables companies to deploy scalable, high-performing business solutions."
Like other members of the Pentium II Xeon processor family, the newest 450-MHz processors deliver industry-leading performance with four-way and greater multiprocessing; larger and faster integrated L2 cache; and System Management bus (SMbus) capabilities that provide advanced manageability features and easy integration into existing business infrastructures. In addition, the 450-MHz Pentium II Xeon processors are compatible with earlier versions of the processor and are supported by the same systems, minimizing hardware system vendor and IT qualification time and making their adoption easier.
Broad industry support for these processors continues, including operating system solutions by Unixware*, Linux*, Solaris*, Netware* and Windows* NT*. In addition, a wide range of hardware system vendors plan to announce the availability of four-way server systems based on the Pentium II Xeon processors 450 MHz this month. These include Compaq, Data General, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, IBM, Micron, Mitsubishi, NCR, NEC, Olivetti, Packard Bell NEC, Samsung, Sequent, Siemens ICP, Toshiba and Unisys.
In 1,000-unit quantities, the Pentium II Xeon processor 450 MHz with 512 KB L2 cache costs $824, with 1 MB L2 cache costs $1,980, and with 2 MB L2 cache costs $3,692.
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
* Third party marks and brands are property of their respective holders.
** For complete benchmark information on Intel Pentium II Xeon processors, visit the Intel Web site at: www.intel.com/PentiumII/Xeon/home.htm.