Builders of yore may remember the frequency races, back before a focus on core count and architecture surpassed the importance of raw speed. Intel is rumored to be back at the frequency game, reportedly pushing for a 5.1GHz stock clock on its next Xeon Series Broadwell-EP CPU. Xeon has historically served as a server or workstation chip, but regularly gets adopted into gaming builds for its high-performance, often sans overclocking abilities.
The new rumor stems from Asian site “MyDrivers,” who state that (translated) “Intel is planning to launch default frequencies up to 5.1GHz,” according to unspecified sources.
The Broadwell-EP silicon is expected to run a TDP of 165W – fairly high for Intel's recent CPUs, but not unreasonable for an E-/EP series CPU. Power draw and thermals do become more of a challenge as clockrates are pushed ever upwards, but we'll hold speculation until review units are out. The E5-2602v4 quad-core CPU will mount in LGA2011v3 sockets.
Either way, the current rumor is to expect a 5.1GHz Xeon chip. True or not, that makes Xeon a worthy line to follow for gaming PCs.
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.