Intel 10-core Xeon Processors Coming Soon

While desktop processors have reached the 6-core limit, Intel’s Westmere processors running 10 cores will be out very soon. Intel initially listed details of the processors last year and said that the new processors would be coming sometime in the first half of 2011. There's now news that the new processors will be here soon.

160 threads are possible, if setup in the right configuration

Before you get too excited, the new processor named Westmere-EX are designed for high-end server applications. Users of the older Nehalem-EX processors won’t have to upgrade to a new socket as the new processor will be backward complaint. The new 10-core processors will be based on the 32nm fabrication process and will support up to 2 TB of memory on dual socket systems. The new processors can be run on an 8-CPU configuration. With each core supporting up to two threads each, you could technically have 160 threads running on it. Intel has been in the news lately for Sandy Bridge, Light Peak, their new Core i7 990X processor and now the massively powerful Xeon processors. AMD too has a 16-core processor planned for later this year called the Interlagos, which will be based on the new Bulldozer architecture.