[bearcatrp]

Just checked newegg to see if the clovertown processors have dropped in price. Only one they have is a 2ghz. They had others up to 3ghz just a few days ago and now gone. Something going on that all of a sudden the clovertowns dissapear? The 3ghz where going for 1200 bucks so don't think folks like me who were looking to upgrade there mac pro's bought them. Strange.

[Simon]

Clearing the shelves for Gainestown.

[Big Mac]

It seems to be getting harder to follow Intel's code names. . .

[bearcatrp]

I was hoping the price would come down on the 3ghz clovertowns from 1200 bucks a pop. Heck, for the price of 2, I could buy a octo refurb for about the same price. Never understood why the price for clovertowns maintained there high price versus the harpertowns lower price. Guess I'll have to start checking ebay.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

It seems to be getting harder to follow Intel's code names. . .

Core Xeons (SMP capable): Woodcrest -> Clovertown -> Harpertown (Penryn-based) -> Gainestown (Nehalem-based)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon
http://ark.intel.com/

[Simon]

Originally Posted by bearcatrp 

I was hoping the price would come down on the 3ghz clovertowns from 1200 bucks a pop. Heck, for the price of 2, I could buy a octo refurb for about the same price. Never understood why the price for clovertowns maintained there high price versus the harpertowns lower price. Guess I'll have to start checking ebay.

Unless you have extra hardware you cannot migrate a refurb MP is usually a better deal than upgrading just the CPUs. The CPUs are expensive and yet you're still stuck with all the other parts of your old system.

[mduell]

New model coming soon so they don't want to hold stock of 2 generation old hardware and only the slower parts have 7+ year mfr availability.

Regarding the prices, that's how Intel does their pricing: once a chip is deprecated it's price is more or less fixed. The new chips (which are often cheaper to manufacture) usually launch at higher speeds at the same price points.

[P]

Originally Posted by Simon 

Core Xeons (SMP capable): Woodcrest -> Clovertown -> Harpertown (Penryn-based) -> Gainestown (Nehalem-based)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon
http://ark.intel.com/

Thereby proving his point by forgetting one. Without checking those links or otherwise trying to look it up: What is the codename for the Xeon 5200 series?

[mduell]

Originally Posted by P 

Thereby proving his point by forgetting one. Without checking those links or otherwise trying to look it up: What is the codename for the Xeon 5200 series?

Wolfdale DP (a derivative of Wolfdale, the single socket Core 2 Duo/Xeon 3100 45nm die shrink), but I don't think anyone actually bought them given the pricing of the quads.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by P 

Thereby proving his point by forgetting one. Without checking those links or otherwise trying to look it up: What is the codename for the Xeon 5200 series?

I didn't forget Wolfdale DP, I left it out. Just like I left out Wolfdale. I listed SMP-capable 'true' Xeons. These Wolfdale and Wolfdale DP aren't. They're rebranded desktop CPUs (desktop Wolfdale) that use the LGA 775 sockets and are only single socket capable. The Xeons I listed are dual socket SMP-capable Xeons using LGA 771 (socket J) or LGA 1366 (socket B) in the case of Nehalem. The type Apple has so far always used.

Along the same logic I left out the rebranded Conroe "Xeon", the rebranded Kentsfield "Xeon, and the rebranded Yorkfield "Xeon". No dual-socket option. No SMP.

A similar problem will stick around with i7 Xeons too. There will be the 55xx series Gainestown which is dual socket capable. There will however also be a 35xx series Gainestown fitting the same socket B, but it'll be only single-socket capable. Ironically the 35xx series will cost exactly the same as the equally clocked i7 9xx series for desktops (Bloomfield). TDPs will also be ~ the same. The main difference I can see is that the "Xeons" will always have a 3.2 GHz QPI (6.4 GT/s) while for the desktop i7s only the XE Bloomfield (i7 965) will come with that. The other two regular Bloomfields will have a 2.4 GHz QPI (4.8 GT/s).

[P]

Wolfdale DP - Xeon 5200 series - is SMP capable. It uses Socket 771, so it is not simply a rebranded Wolfdale (which uses Socket 775). The rebranded Wolfdales are the Xeon 3100 series.

[Simon]

Yep, my bad. Mixed them up. They're limited to only two cores, but they do fit LGA771.