Intel officially introduced its 6-core processor on Tuesday and both server and game box suppliers are deploying the chip, boasting more speed for gamers and better cost-efficiency for IT departments

As previously reported, the Core i7- 980X desktop processor, aka the Xeon 5600 for servers, is based on Intel's newest 32-nanometer process technologyGenerally, the smaller the manufacturing process, the better the performanceTo date, most Intel processors have used "fatter" 45-nanometer technologyMore processing cores--six versus the prior generation's four--can also hike performance

"We've already shipped hundreds of thousands of these (processors)We build up the supply chain (beforehand)," said Boyd Davis, general manager for Server Platforms Group Marketing at IntelPrices for the 6-core processors range from $999 for the Core i7 980 to $1,663 for the Xeon 5680.

For server customers, the message from Intel is more bang for the buck"Eighty percent of the (server) installed base is up for a refreshAnd the installed base is a lot of old, inefficient, single-core servers," said Davis

"Take 15 old single-core servers and replace them with a single server based on the Xeon 5600You get roughly the same performance level and a 95 percent reduction in energy costsAs well as getting a payback in as little as five months," he said

Intel has also added securityAES-NI, or Advanced Encryption Standard New Instruction, is a technology for improving security by increasing encryption performanceOn older chips, encryption processing could bog down a system, AES is more efficient at handling these workloads, according to Davis

Dell is one of the first major vendors to begin selling servers and workstations with the Xeon 5600Dell on Tuesday is introducing nine PowerEdge blade, rack-mount, and tower servers, and three Dell Precision tower workstations updated with the new Intel Xeon 5600

The new Dell servers include two blade servers (M710, M610), four rack servers, (R710, R610, R510, R410) and three tower servers (T710, T610, T410)

IBM on Tuesday unveiled new System x servers based on the Xeon 5600, delivering 50 percent more (processing) cores and 40 percent to 60 percent better performance than previous generationsThe new System x M3 and Blade Center systems include two new rack servers, the x3650 M3 and the x3550 M3, two new enterprise tower servers, the x3500 M3 and x3400 M3--the latter feature twice the storage capacity of previous generations and lower power and facilities costs

Other IBM systems include the BladeCenter HS22 and the virtualization-optimized BladeCenter HS22V, which allows clients to fit between 30 percent and 50 percent more virtual machines on a single blade server, IBM said

On the gaming front, Hewlett-Packard is making its HPE-180t Pavilion tower available with the Core i7 980xBuyer beware: a consumer can buy a respectable midrange gaming system for the price of the new chip aloneOn the HPE-180t, the 980x adds $810 to the cost of the system

Dell is also updating its XPS 9000, a multimedia desktop PC, with the 980xAnd Dell's Alienware unit is adding the 980x to its Area-51 and Area-51 ALX systems