Intel introduced today two new quad-core Xeons CPUs that take advantage of the 45nm fab process to increase performance and reduce power consumption, which is estimated at 50 watts. The new Xeon L5420 runs at 2.5GHz, and the L5410 runs at 2.33GHz, both feature a 12MB cache and a front side bus of 1333MHz. The series is aimed at servers and workstations and are expected to compete hand in hand with similarly priced AMD Opteron CPUs.

The L5420 and L5410 are already shipping in quantities and will sell for $380 and $320, respectively, carrying a price premium over its E-series Xeons counterparts that have a thermal envelope of 80w.