Lindenhurst lacks graphics bite

Intel has officially launched its dual processor 32/64-bit Xeon chipsets, but without the full support for PCI Express that was one of its major selling points.

The E7520 and E7320 chipsets, formerly known as Lindenhurst, will not support PCI Express adapters as yet, although Intel stressed that it will do nothing to stop third parties offering support for such devices.

The chip giant added that the lack of the graphics technology is unlikely to affect the use of servers based on the chipset.

"Intel does not recommend PCI Express adapters for systems based on the E7520 or E7320 chipsets at this time," the company said in a statement.

"Intel recommends implementing integrated solutions on the motherboard until broader support for enterprise adapters is delivered.

"We will provide broader support for PCI Express adapter cards in Q4 of this year, when we refresh the chipsets. Adapter cards are supported for uni-processor workstations and desktops."

The new chipsets also have a new storage processor, the IOP332 I/O (formerly codenamed Dobson), for use with fast access Raid memory systems.

The E7520 is aimed at the highest-performance dual-processor enterprise systems, while the E7320 is lower cost and aimed at applications needing fewer I/O ports.

"We have innovated and integrated the processor, chipset, storage and networking components with these technologies into platforms that deliver a new standard in performance, reliability and cost," said Abhi Talwalkar, vice president and general manager for the Enterprise Platforms Group at Intel.

"Utilising these technologies will enable the systems built on these platforms to perform many of the most demanding jobs which business, science or government can throw at them."

Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Gateway, Hitachi, HP, IBM, NEC, Samsung and Toshiba were among 50 vendors named by Intel as introducing products based on the new server platforms.

The E7520 and E7320 chipsets are priced at $84 and $70 respectively when bought in units of 1,000. The IOP332 I/O processor is priced at $82 in the same quantity.