The Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series automatically and intelligently adjusts server performance according to your application needs for an up to 9x performance gain over single-core servers1 at 18 percent less operating power. This enables you to achieve a 9:1 server consolidation ratio, reducing operating costs by up to 90 percent resulting in an estimated 8-month return on a new server investment. Click here to estimate the business benefits of refreshing your server environment.
Intelligent next-generation Intel® microarchitecture adapts to the workload, automatically increasing processor frequency for greater performance.
Better performance enabled by Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, increasing processor frequency and enabling faster speeds when conditions allow.
Lower energy costs while minimizing impact to performance by automatically putting processor and memory into the lowest available power state.
Individual cores are reduced to near-zero power independent of other operating cores.
Virtualize different generations of Intel® Xeon® processor–based servers in the same pool to deliver peak performance during high-use periods and automatically reduce energy cost during low-use periods.
Integrates multiple generations of Intel® Xeon® processor-based servers, improving flexibility for failover, load balancing, and disaster recovery.
Flexibility for 64-bit and 32-bit applications and operating systems.

- Up to 64 GB/s for three times the memory bandwidth over previous memory technology;
- Up to 144GB supports higher performance for data-intensive applications;
- Enhanced reliability, availability, and serviceability features.

- Moves data more efficiently for fast, scalable, and reliable network performance;
- Ability to significantly reduce CPU overhead, freeing resources for more critical tasks.

- Many memory controller features, together with PCI Express RAS features, combine to help improve platform reliability vs. previous-generation platforms;
- New features include Error Correcting Code (ECC) system bus, new memory mirroring and I/O hot-plug.