Intel Debuts Two Quad-core Server Processors, Touts Q6600 at CES

A consumer-oriented trade show is perhaps an awkward place for a CPU manufacturer to be releasing a server processor set, but Intel may be using its server performance jump as a leveraging point to push its Q6600, its entry-level 2.4 GHz quad-core processor.

The quad-core Xeon 3200 series targets single-processor servers, with the notion that today’s 1P server could be as powerful as yesterday’s 4Ps – or, more realistically, a “2.5P.” The 2.4 GHz X3220 will sell for $851 to vendors purchasing in units of 1000, while the 2.13 GHz X3110 will sell for $690. There currently is no 2.13 GHz consumer-grade counterpart in Intel’s quad-core line. Using today’s CES news cycle, Intel was able to get these figures out to far more potential customers than for almost any other time of the year.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini’s characterization of the Q6600 as “quad-core technology on anyone’s PC” could lead to speculation that the company may already be beginning the phasing out process for entry-level dual-core processors introduced just last July: specifically, the Core 2 Duo E 6400. Though Intel did not release new pricing on the Q6600 today, street prices range from between $875 to $1,100.