Intel Xeon E3 1290 's Advantages
Higher base frequency (3.6GHz vs 2.7GHz)
Lower TDP (95W vs 130W)
Intel Xeon E5 2697 v2 's Advantages
Released 2 years and 4 months late
Larger L3 cache size (30MB vs 8MB)
More modern manufacturing process (22nm vs 32nm)