Just a short while after the dual core Xeon hits the market, the biggest Xeon touters in the industry have now all begun offering systems based on the new beast. IBM, HP and Dell are all putting 4-processor, 8-core machines into the market for fast computing. Despite the bad press the dual core Xeon has received lately for poor performance compared to Opteron, it has been picked up relatively fast and is likely going to be headed out worldwide as anyone formerly building single core Xeon servers (a very substantial portion of the entry- to mid-level server market) will now be using these. IBM is releasing a $21,000 system that supports up to 32 Xeons (with multiple chassis), HP is readying several 667MHz FSB models, and Dell's next line of Poweredge servers will also feature the Paxville Xeon, a little under $7,000 for those.

Intel does not want to lose any more ground to Opteron, and with backers like these AMD has a tough job set out for them. Intel's VT technology makes the Xeon very attractive to enterprise, and soon we may see that as a key selling point for it. VT won't show it's face for a few more months, but it is already getting a lot of press, for it is something the industry has wanted for a while now.