Intel Corp. announced the release of four new quad-core Xeon models, which will complete its chip line with a new halogen-free packaging technology. The new products are expected to improve the performance and also save energy.

The Quad-Core Xeon L5430, X5470, X5492, and X5270 processors have been developed to run at clock speeds ranging from 2.66GHz to 3.5GHz and their retail prices range from US$562 to $1,493 each. The L5430 needs only 50 watts of power and the dual-core Xeon X5270 demands only 80 watts.

"Much of the energy efficiency these new processors provide comes from Intel's...45 (nanometer) manufacturing capability and its reinvented transistors that use a Hafnium-based high-k metal gate formula," Intel explained in a statement.

Still, the company did not only focus on low power consumption products, as the high-performance X5492 version will demand a lot more power, near 150 watts.

Intel is known as a market player interested in the environmental impact of its chips. Starting with last year when the company introduced the Penryn family of chips, all of its products began using lead-free solder. Lead is highly toxic and its use has been drastically reduced in several markets through the environmental legislations, as a result of these worldwide concerns.

Intel Corp. is the world’s largest semiconductor company, with more than 40 years of experience in the field. Its main focus is on microprocessors, but it also builds motherboard chipsets, flash memory, network cards, ICs, graphic chips, embedded processors and many other devices needed for communication and computing.