Today we take a look back at a Thursday from 2010, when Intel was close to launching its latest and greatest Xeon processor, the Intel Xeon X5690. In fact it kind of seems fitting that we revisit a time when a dual-socket ready, hexa-core processor was pretty much the fastest thing on the market. It sure gives perspective to the latest Core-X series that Intel is poised to unleash on the world in the next few weeks. This is what we published back on August 17th 2010:

"Intel is readying its fastest six-core processors ever. While the company is working to introduce the Core i7 990X Extreme Edition for launch sometime in Q4 2010, it's already begun sampling the Xeon X5690. The X5690 is a dual-socket ready LGA1366 processor based on the 32 nm Westmere-EP silicon. It carries a nominal clock-speed of 3.46 GHz (26.0 x 133 MHz), with a Turbo Boost speed of 3.60 GHz (27.0 x 133 MHz). It features a QuickPath Interconnect speed of 6.4 GT/s, and supports triple-channel registered DDR3 memory with its integrated memory controller. Cache levels include 256 KB L2 cache per core, and 12 MB shared L3 cache."

"The processor is compatible with most server boards based on the Intel 5500 and 5520 chipsets with BIOS updates. A quick overclocking feat by Fitseries3 on the EVGA Classified SR-2 motherboard yielded a speed of 5 GHz making use of the high BClk multiplier. The chip is likely to carry a rated TDP of 130W. Intel may release this processor in the next quarter, either displacing the X5680 from its US $1,730 price point, or occupying a higher one."

Just for a bit of perspective, the fastest Cinebench R15 score ever submitted on HWBOT using a pair of 'Westmere’ based Intel Xeon X5690 processors (about $3,000 USD of server silicon) was 2,218 cb points. Compare that to a single socket Core i9 7900X which when overclocked on LN2, manages a score of 3,327 cb points. We really are spoiled by today’s HEDT platforms. And the good news, when Threadripper arrives (later today?) and Intel finally unleash the rest of the X-Series catalogue, things are going to get even more interesting. What interesting times we live in.

Catch the original article from August 2010 here.