Lynnfield: The New Entry Server CPU from Intel

Original Article Date: 2009-10-29

Unless you've been asleep this year, you'll probably know about the revolution in CPU design and performance from Intel, in the form of their "Nehalem" architecture, with on-chip memory controllers and DDR3 RAM support. This technology has been manifested in the Core i7 and Xeon 5500 processors, for workstation and dual-socket server/workstation respectively.

Now, with the launch of Lynnfield, this technology comes to the single-socket entry-server. Branded as the Core i7-800 series and Core i5 for desktops, the Lynnfield CPU is also packaged for the single-socket entry-server market as the Xeon 3400 series.

Lynnfield's features include:

• A new 1156-pin socket design, for single-socket motherboard configurations.
• 1333MHz DDR3 RAM support via an integrated memory controller, in dual-channel configuration, with ECC and Registered DIMM support
• Native quad-core die at 45nm process
• Shared 8MB L3 cache
• Aggressive Turbo-Boost functionality, enabling significant dynamic overclocking over design.
• Six models: X3470 (2.93GHz),  X3460 (2.8GHz), X3450 (2.66GHz), X3440 (2.53GHz), X3430 (2.4GHz) all running at 95W TDP and the L3426 (1.86GHz) running at 45W TDP.
• Hyper-Threading on all models (except the X3430), providing a total of 8 threads of execution to server applications.

What? Not another socket design! Ok, I thought that too. My guess is that Intel wanted to differentiate this from their more premium 1366 socket design for Core i7 and Xeon 5500. There are also practical cost considerations too - a lower-pin socket is cheaper to produce. What I've gotten generally from Intel about this launch is their emphasis on this being a value as opposed to extreme performance solution, attractive to small businesses during tough times. Another differentiation is that Lynnfield supports only dual-channel memory configuration, whereas Core i7 and Xeon 5500 support triple-channel, so memory bandwidth on Lynnfield won't be quite so high.

That said, the performance of these CPUs is impressive, with their compute power equivalent to a single previous-generation Xeon 5400 series CPU, and yet at a fraction of the price. These CPUs, with their native quad-core design, aggressive turbo-boost feature (see later), and support for 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, mean they'll outperform most legacy dual-socket dual-core servers over 2 years old. That's a pretty impressive feat, considering the overall price for a server built around a Lynnfield CPU.

So what's this Turbo-Boost thing then, and why should I care? Turbo-Boost is feature that allows one or more CPU cores to go above their advertised/design clock-speed, when pushed by an application demanding more power, as long as thermal limits are not exceeded. This is especially relevant to some legacy applications which only run in a single thread, and will therefore only use one out of the four CPU cores. For Lynnfield, Intel have an even more aggressive Turbo-Boost engine than with the Core i7 / Xeon 5500. For instance, the L3426 CPU, advertised at 1.86GHz, can run a single core at up to 2.93GHz when none of the other cores are being used. The X3470 can push 3.66GHz on a single core in the same way. And it's all automatic - the CPU determines what maximum clock is possible in what scenario.

The New CPU Line-Up

The new Lynnfield X3400 series CPUs are shown in the table below.

All CPU models come with 4 cores, 8MB shared L3 cache, 1333MHz RAM support, and TurboBoost.

Two New Entry Servers from Electronics Nexus

Lynnfield's launch comes with a new chipset, the Intel 3420, which forms the core of two new boards that we're using to build out our new entry servers.

The S3420GPLX and S3420GPLC boards differ slightly in that the LX has a number of additional (and higher-bandwidth) PCI-Express slots, as well as support for KVM over LAN and Remote Management.

The SIRIUS  entry rack server and the JACINTO entry tower server, with starting prices at $1,299 and $999 respectively are a perfect solution for small businesses looking to replace older dual-processor servers that are costly to run in regard to the power company, or on their last legs in terms of reliability. Whilst the performance on these machines is impressive, their low cost enables a server purchase where small businesses might scare at a dual-socket configuration in a tough economy.

That they will outperform most dual-socket solutions bought over two years ago, of course, is beside the point! Never before has there been so much power available for business servers at under $1,500!

Best regards,

Ben Ranson
Chief Systems Engineer
Electronics Nexus
http://elnexus.com
ben@elnexus.com
1-877-773-5366