Intel 5500 Super Chip – As Fast as an F-16 with Fuel Efficiency of a Glider

Intel in touting how great the Xeon 5500 chip is I found an entertaining SJ Mercury news post.

Intel unveils groundbreaking new server chip

By Matt Nauman

Mercury News

Posted: 03/30/2009 05:54:03 PM PDT

Patrick Gelsinger, Intel senior vice president and general manager of the... (Business Wire)

The arrival of the speedy Intel Pentium Pro server chip in 1995 set the stage for the explosion in Internet usage. Intel said Monday that its new Xeon 5500 server chip will help build data centers ready for the next generation of the Internet.

Intel's Patrick Gelsinger described the Xeon 5500 as "the greatest leap in performance in the history of data processing."

How big is the leap?

Gelsinger, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's digital enterprise group, said the Xeon 5500 is faster, more energy efficient and more flexible than its predecessor. He predicted it will propel advances in cloud computing and virtualization that will be the key to data-center growth and efficiency.

Gelsinger described the new chips as "an engineering marvel," comparing them to an aircraft that's as fast as an F-16 with the cargo capacity of a jumbo jet and the fuel efficiency of a glider. The new chips are about twice as fast as the previous Xeon 5400 chips.

As fast as an F-16, and the fuel efficiency of a glider.  I think Gelsinger may have been a little too excited.  Going as fast as an F-16 riding the wind?  I assume Gelsinger’s world of Physics is a different place.

Another interesting announcement is Intel’s Data Center Efficiency challenge on Facebook.

Intel Announces its Data Center Efficiency Challenge!
If you work in IT and have fresh perspectives to make your organization more efficient, you’ve come to the right spot!
Submit a short video “proposal” describing plans to use Intel server technology (Intel Xeon 5500 series or other current Intel-based server platforms) to save both energy and money in your data center.
One winner in each of two categories – enterprise and small business – will receive a new Intel Xeon processor 5500 series server, an energy efficient netbook or mobile PC, will be flown to San Francisco for the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) and will meet with senior data center experts for consultation on their proposal.

I would love to see the video submittals where an Intel Xeon 5500 is as fast an F-16 and rides the wind.