Sun Microsystems is throwing down in blighty on March 30 to celebrate the launch of  the Xeon EP which officially brings dual-socket Nehalems to bear.

Based on the Nehalem-derived Gainestown core, these SMP-enabled parts feature a second 6.4GT/s QPI link to broker inter-CPU communication. As far as specs are concerned, the chips officially sports tri-channel DDR3, 4MB or 8MB L3 cache, and an 80-130W TDP.

Though the official launch is set for the end of March, Gainestown chips began furtive sales in early February in the form of the Intel Xeon W5580 (BX80602W5580). The chip was being pegged for an MSRP that hovered right around $1700 USD. Other chips expected throughout the spring and summer months include:

130W TDP / DDR3-1333:

Xeon W5580

95W TDP / DDR3-1333:

Xeon X5570
Xeon X5560
Xeon X5550

80W TDP / DDR3-1066:

Xeon E5540
Xeon E5530
Xeon E5520

80W TDP / DDR3-800:

Xeon E5506
Xeon E5504

80W TDP / DDR3-800 / Dual Core:

Xeon E5502