The Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v2 product family offers up to 32% more energy efficient performance than previous generation Intel® Xeon® processor-based servers.
A number of technologies have been added or upgraded to improve I/O bandwidth, gain faster access to commonly used programs and files, allow applications to run faster, increase data throughput, and improve the performance of disc-intensive retrieval applications.
The Intel® Xeon® processor platform is built for all day, every day reliability. Centralized data backup and critical security updates further help reduce the risk of costly downtime.
The Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 platform, which supports 20 I/O ports—up from 16, gives you the reliability you need today with plenty of room to grow for tomorrow. Increase your storage and networking capacity seamlessly.
from
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/xeon/xeon-processor-e3-family.html