The Xeon Processor 5600 series offers Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions and Trusted Execution Technology, which enable faster encryption and decryption performance for more secure transactions and virtualized environments, according to Intel (Santa Clara, Calif.).

The Xeon 5600 series chips are the first server and workstation processors to be implemented in Intel's 32-nm technology, which uses the company's second-generation high-k metal gate transistors to increase speed and decrease energy consumption, according to Intel. The chips supports up to six cores per processor and deliver up to 60 percent greater performance than the 45-nm Xeon 5500 series, the company said.

Data centers can replace 15 single-core servers with a single Xeon 5600 and achieve a return on their investment in as little as five months, according to Intel. A two-socket server using the new low-voltage Xeon L5640 can deliver the same performance as a server using the Xeon processors X5570 series, but with up to 30 percent lower platform power, Intel said.

Over the next 45 days, server and workstation systems based on the Xeon 5600 series are expected to be announced by a wide variety of system manufacturers around the world, including Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Oracle, according to Intel.

Intel also launched Tuesday three processors for the embedded computing segment, including the first six-core processors, the Intel Xeon E5645 and L5638, the quad-core L5618 and E5620 processors, the company said. These processors are built for thermally constrained and robust communications environments and will route applications more quickly and efficiently between connected devices, according to the company.