Intel has introduced 29 new server processors to its E3 and E7 Xeon families today. The former serves entry-level customers while the latter represents Intel’s most powerful server offering, supposedly setting 14 benchmark records and surpassing its Itanium chips.

Based on Intel’s 32nm Westmere-EX architecture, Intel claims the E7 series offers a 40% performance improvement over last year’s Westmere-EP-based Xeon chips. That makes sense when you consider the Westmere-EP models came with a maximum of six cores.

The E7 range alone is comprised of 18 products, allowing Intel to meet a wide variety of demands. More than half feature a 10-core, 12-thread, 130W design while the others scale down to eight and six cores with a 105W TDP. One six-core model lowers the TPD to 95W.

The flagship Xeon E7-8870 is outfitted with no less than 10 processing cores, can handle up to 20 threads, operates at 2.4GHz, supports Turbo Boost and HyperThreading, carries 30MB of cache and has a 130W TDP.

The new E3 line is equally diverse. All 11 chips have four cores with support for TurboBoost and HyperThreading. Most operate higher than 3GHz with the top unit peaking at 3.5GHz and TDPs range from 20W to 95W.

All of the processors come with a couple of new security features. Intel’s Advanced Encryption Standard New Instruction (AES-NI) allows systems to quickly encrypt and decrypt data, while Intel’s Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) protects applications from malware.

The Xeon E3 and E7 are already shipping via 19 system builders including Bull, Cisco, Cray, Dell, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Lenovo, NEC and Oracle. Configurations range from dual-socket servers to “mission-critical” supercomputers powered by as many as 256 chips.

One thing that should please gamers with lots of the same model of monitors is an Eyefinity configuration called 5×1, which means five monitors all lined up in a single row.

Rather than have them laid out in their normal 16:9 or 16:10 widescreen modes, the set up that we saw had the LCDs in portrait mode. This effectively gave the effect of both a wide peripheral view, as well as something with a bit more vertical coverage. (We also figure that having five monitors in landscape mode would give a far too extreme field-of-view.)

Having the 5×1 setup with portrait monitors would also prove to be a more cost effective way of getting big, widescreen gaming without having to spring for an Eyefinity 3 setup composed of 30-inch LCDs that cost north of the four-digit range.

The setup we saw was running off the dual-Cayman Antilles Radeon HD 6990 card, which pumped pixels to the five displays quite smoothly in the demos we got to see of Dirt 3 and Dragon Age 2.

Today Intel officially announced that its Light Peak technology would be branded as Thunderbolt on all platforms (not just Apple making up fancy names). We didn’t feel that there was anything wrong with Light Peak; we had grown quite fond of using that name. But for the casual consumer, Thunderbolt likely sounds more like something cool out of a comic book.

Thunderbolt features two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to 10Gbps each, and delivers PCI Express directly to external high performance peripherals such as RAID arrays, and can support FireWire and USB consumer devices and Gigabit Ethernet networks via adapters.

Intel boasts that the speed offered by Thunderbolt is enough to transfer a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds or backup 1 year of continuous MP3 playback in just over 10 minutes.

An Intel spokesperson said that its upcoming 10-core “Westmere-EX” Xeon processor (pdf) will launch during the first half of 2011. The chip follows Intel’s 2010 release of the Nehalem-EX CPU, currently the fastest Intel server processor on the market sporting up to eight cores.

The new Xeons will bring additional security features to the table including Advanced Encryption Standard-New Instructions (AES-NI) for faster encryption and decryption of data. The processor itself will be manufactured using 32nm processing technology whereas the current Nehalem-EX was made using the 45nm process.

The Intel spokesperson added that Westmere-EX will be targeted at high-end servers–those with up to eight sockets–in data centers maintaining large databases and other applications. Each physical core will run up to two threads, providing servers with the ability to run up to 160 threads simultaneously (8 processors @ 20 threads each).

In addition to the improved design, the new Xeon will be socket-compatible with existing Nehalem-EX chips, making it easy for customers to upgrade server processors. Two-socket systems running on Westmere-EX chips will also support up to 2 TB of memory.

AMD may halt processor branding once the company completes its Llano and Zambezi processor lineup. The reason is that AMD reportedly wants to emphasize its corporate AMD Vision trademark and focus consumer attention to its corporate brand.

The news arrives by way of a mysterious document received by X-bit Labs. Although the site didn’t provide a scanned copy for all to see, the document supposedly reveals that AMD will divide its processors into three different classes of its Vision platforms including FX-Series, A-Series and E-Series. That means we may not see another Phenom, Athlon or Sempron-related branding on our AMD CPUs ever again. Really, it will be ok.

The AMD document supposedly indicates that the FX-Series will consist of “Zambezi” processors based on Bulldozer micro-architecture with four, six or eight cores. These will be sold using the AMD Vision Black and AMD Vision Ultimate labels.

The A-Series processors will consist of the “Llano” APUs (accelerated processing units). These will have two or four cores and an ATI Radeon HD 6000-class graphics core. These will be sold on AMD Vision Ultimate and AMD Vision Premium platforms.

As for the E-Series, this group will serve the low-end market with APU’s using one or two cores and a basic Radeon HD 6000-class “Zacate” graphics core. This series will be sold simply as AMD Vision.

“What you saw AMD do with APUs on the ‘Brazos’ platform is get component-level branding out of the way so that our OEM partners can imbue their products with branding of their choosing without sub-brands cluttering things up,” said Damon Muzny, a spokesman for AMD, in a previous statement. “Vision is AMD’s contribution, which comes with the intention of simplifying the purchasing for folks who know what they want to do with their PC and don’t care to learn the intricate sub-component technical nuances to make a buying decision. Will we do the same with Llano and Zambezi? You’ll have to wait and see.”

A recent report indicates that Intel’s upcoming enthusiast-class Sandy Bridge E-Series processors have been delayed by at least a whole quarter, now slated for a Q4 2011 release.

Previously it was believed that the E-Series would arrive earlier in the year, appearing sometime during Q3 2011. However now there’s indication that Intel plans to increase the speed of the current Sandy Bridge platform with faster chips first over the summer before rolling out the elite version for performance machines in the Fall/Winter window.

News of the delay stems from a document acquired by X-bit Labs. According to the paper, the processors will use the LGA2011 socket and offer “extra large cache” to maximize the overall speed of single-threaded and dual-threaded applications, the quad-channel memory controller, and “a number of other enhancements.”

The documents also reveals that E-Series processors bearing four or six cores will be paired with the Intel X68 “Patsburg” core-logic set. However platforms based on the 6-core processors will offer external base frequency generators but will keep the clock-speeds of USB, SATA and other buses locked. This will allow users to boost the clock speed of the CPU by increasing the Direct Media Interface (DMI) frequencies.

Before launching the E-Series, Intel will reportedly unleash the Core i7 9-series Extreme Edition processors sometime in Q2 or Q3 2011.

Wednesday MSI announced the AMD “Eyes On The Prize” Target Challenge, an online competition using a score challenge format starting February 14 and ending March 13, 2011, specifically for AMD consumers.

As the title states, those using AMD-based graphics cards are challenged to be the first in reaching a specific target score within the timeframe of the contest’s four unique, week-long stages. Initially the contest will be open only to consumers using MSI-based AMD graphics cards for the first three weeks/stages. MSI will then open the doors to all AMD graphics cards owners (no matter the brand) in the fourth and final week/stage.

According to the company, winners will away with a set of premium-level MSI motherboards and graphics cards. Contestants who didn’t win any of the four stages– but still reached the target in any of the four stages–will automatically be qualified for the lucky draw for the flagship MSI AMD Radeon 6970 Lightning graphics card.

“Additionally, to express our gratitude for your participation, each week MSI is giving away 5 serial numbers of DirectX 11-supported 3DMark 11 performance benchmarking software,” the company said. “All you need to do to win one of the 20 serial numbers is submit a score to any of the stages.”

Intel is reportedly gearing up to showcase its 22 nm next-generation processors based on the Ivy Bridge architecture soon, possibly during Computex Taipei 2011 taking place from May 30 to June 4. Actual processors aren’t expected to hit the market until the first half of 2012, keeping in tune with Intel’s yearly release schedule.

Ivy Bridge’s appearance seems rather premature, given that Intel just launched the 32 nm Sandy Bridge platform during CES 2011 back in January. However, the architecture will remain similar tos Sandy Bridge, but reduced down to a smaller die thanks to 22 nm manufacturing. Thus, the Ivy Bridge chips will be smaller but are expected to provide an increased performance per watt. The processors will also be compatible with the LGA1155 interface.

Additional reports indicate that Ivy Bridge will bring a DirectX 11-compatible graphics core combined with the second-generation QuickSync video technology. Ivy Bridge will also reportedly have 24 execution units compared to 12 today, and include HDMI 1.4 output. Integrated subsystems are also expected to receive improvements with the addition of native support for 1600 MHz DDR3 and PCIe 3.0. Overall performance is expected to increase 20 to 30-percent over the equivalent Core processors released in 2011.

Although AMD hasn’t announced anything official, the company is reportedly now offering three new Radeon HD 6000 cards to OEMS only, two based on the “Turks” GPU and the third based on the “Caicos” GPU.

According to the report, AMD’s 40-nm Turks mid-level GPU uses 480 VLIW5 stream processors, a 128-bit GDDR5 memory controller, and offers support for DirectX 11 and DDR3 on lower SKUs. Turks is available on two OEM cards i.e Radeon HD 6670 and Radeon HD 6570.

As for AMD’s entry-level Caicos GPU, it serves as a step up from an integrated graphics processor, packing 160 VLIW5 stream processors and a 64-bit memory controller supporting GDDR5 and DDR3. This GPU is used on the Radeon HD 6450 .

As previously stated, currently all three cards are available only to OEMs. However, all three are expected to filter through the retail channels within the coming weeks, so stay tuned for release dates and pricing.

According to the EPA, Intel has purchased more than 2.5 billion kWh of green electricity (biomass, geothermal, small hydro, solar, wind) , which not only covers 88% of the company’s electricity need, but makes Intel by far the largest green energy buyer in the U.S. The EPA said that the acquired green power is equivalent to avoiding CO2 emissions from 218,000 American homes.

However, there are other companies that use green electricity only, even if they do not buy as much green energy as Intel.

Those companies include Kohl’s (1.42 billion kWh), Whole Foods Market (817 million kWh) and HSBC North America (300 million kWh). HSBC is indicated to have purchased 112% of its energy need on the green market.

Collectively, the top 50 partner organizations of the Green Power Partnership are using more than 13.5 billion kWh of green power annually, equivalent to the CO2 produced from the electricity use of more than 1.1 million average American homes, the EPA said. Other tech companies on the list include Cisco (270 million kWh, 29% of corporate energy coverage), Motorola (119 million kWh, 32%), Dell (114 million kWh, 28%), AMD (74 million kWh, 102%), Applied materials (35 million kWh, 16%), Freescale (13 million kWh, 3%), Apple (12 million kWh, 98%), IBM (10 million kWh, 10%), Oracle (5.4 million kWh, 6%), and Yahoo (1.6 million kWh, 28%).