Intel used to subdivide its desktop processors into two segments, one that targeted mainstream consumers and another that targeted high-end enthusiast and pro-workstation users. Mainstream parts typically used a smaller socket and featured more subdued specifications, while high-end desktop – or HEDT – parts went all-out, with more cores, additional memory channels, and IO technologies carried over from the server segment. For the last few generations, however, Intel hasn’t updated its HEDT line-up, instead favoring its reinvigorated mainstream segment, which offer massive performance uplifts, thanks to their updated, high-performance hybrid architectures. That is no longer the case though, with the just-introduced Xeon W series.