Intel (INTC) Bolsters Major Chip Line

In a move to shore up its Xeon microprocessor line, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has released its most powerful chip yet in the series.

Xeon has for the most part been the product of choice for those running server systems.

Intel has slowly been enhancing Xeons with features similar to Itanium, which are also used for high-end jobs.

With the release of the new E7 models, Kirk Skaugen, the Intel vice president who oversees the Xeon and Itanium effort, claims the company has closed the gap between the two. "Now we are saying there is no workload in the world that Xeon can't handle," said Skaugen.

He added the major reason to decide on an Itanium now is in order to run software written specifically for the operating systems that work only on Itanium-powered servers. "It's strictly an operating system choice now," he said.

Intel closed Tuesday at $19.71, gaining $0.22, or 1.13 percent.