New rumors floated Monday have raised the prospect of a possible shortage of Xeon E5-2600 processors. Taiwanese server designers purportedly told Digitimes that there was 20 percent less supply of Intel’s workstation chip than for brisk orders, leading contract PC builder Quanta to push Intel for more. Most top computer builders plan to use the E5, and interest had been “higher than expected,” the tip indiciated.
In a rare instance of a direct check of the rumors, Intel has denied having shortages and has said demand has been “normal,” although what that meant wasn’t apparent.
The E5-2600 does stand to be one of Intel’s more sought-after individual processors as it represents the first update to its mid-range Xeons since the middle of 2010. Along with Windows PC builders like Dell and HP, Apple may institute the first Mac Pro update in a year and a half now that it has access to eight-core processors and a newer architecture. The company has had documents for nearly a year alluding to the possibility of a 16-core model
