The best replacement for xeon is i7.

The best alternatives to xeon are rated as following:
★★★★★  i7
★★★★  opteron
★★★  i5
★★★  core 2 duo
★★  core i7
★★  core 2 quad
★★  pentium
★★  i3
★★  core
★  p4
★  pentium 4
★  itanium
★  i7 benchmark
★  i7 for server
★  core 2
★  i7 gaming
★  quad core
★  haswell
  i7 haswell
  core i5
  i7 server
  cxbx
  core duo
  i7 processor
  i7 4770k
  i7 processors
  i7 solidworks
  i7 performance
  nehalem
  sandy bridge
  i7 workstation
  pentium d
  icore

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Speaking about xeon, one probably shouldn't forget about non-ecc memory.

Other search terms related to xeon and their ratings are:
★★★★★ non-ecc memory
★ ecc ram
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Google Trends

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xeon
i7
opteron