Microsoft wants Intel to build 16 core Atom chip

Microsoft has asked Intel to develop a 16-core version of its low power Atom chip for use in servers, part of a wider effort to reduce power consumption in its massive data centres, a Microsoft executive said Thursday.

There’s a “huge opportunity” to improve energy efficiency by using servers based on small, low-power chip designs such as Intel’s Atom and Advanced Micro Devices’ Bobcat, said Dileep Bhandarkar, a distinguished engineer with Microsoft’s Global Foundation Services, which runs the company’s data centres.

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