It should be noted in all this i7 and Xeon business that "Core i7" covers several CPU families. The Xeon W3530 = i7 930, both are socket 1366 parts, with the big server-grade tri-channel ECC memory controller, and QuickPath for communicating with the chipset. (ECC is disabled on the ones sold under the i7 name). The i7 860 is a much more tame part, using socket 1156 and aimed at the consumer market. It uses the slower DMI for chipset interfacing (although note that it has an integrated PCIe controller, the QPI ones have the PCIe controller on the chipset rather than the CPU).
Really, it's not that the SP Xeons are rebadged consumer chips, at least not since Nehalem came out. It's more like the high-end gamer line are the test dummies for the server line, and just ship with ECC turned off.
Really, it's not that the SP Xeons are rebadged consumer chips, at least not since Nehalem came out. It's more like the high-end gamer line are the test dummies for the server line, and just ship with ECC turned off.