Today has turned into a day of green computing launches for Intel.

First, there was the launch of the company's "Harpertown" Xeon 5400 series of processors. The quad-core 45nm, halogen-free parts are among the most energy efficient server chips from Intel, with the low-voltage versions consuming "50 watts of power or just 12.5 watts per core."

They are solid performers as well. According to Intel, a SuperMicro server with a X5470 under the hood set a record on the SPECint_rate2006 benchmark with a score of 150.

Below are the details of the Xeons that went on sale today, including pricing in per 1,000-unit quantities.

• Quad-Core Intel Xeon L5430, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 50W, $562
• Quad-Core Intel Xeon X5470, 3.33GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 120W, $1,386
• Quad-Core Intel Xeon Processor, 3.4GHz, 1600MHz FSB, 150W, $1,493

The dual-core, 3.5GHz X5270, which goes on sale later this fall, consumes 80 watts and will sell for $1,172 in 1,000-unit quantities. X5400 series Xeons are currently shipping, expect them to pop up in servers from HP, Dell, IBM, Sun... You know, the usual suspects.

On the storage side, Intel has started shipping X18-M and X25-M solid state drives. The 1.8" and 2.5" SATA drives pack 80GB and draw just 0.15 watts during drive activity.

They don't come cheap, though. Each costs $595 -- you guessed it -- in 1,000-unit quantities.