Like Transmeta and Intel before it, VIA is getting its chips installed into energy-efficient servers. The company yesterday said that US-based server maker Rauch Medien will use its C3 x86-compatible processor for a new family of low-power rack machines.

Rauch Medien's Linux-based GreenServ systems typically draw less than 3OW, a quarter of the power that regular servers require. Equally, the GreenServs pump out much less heat. About a third of that is the C3, which draws 10W. The servers use Flash memory instead of a hard drive, which also contributes to the low power consumption, but ups the unit cost.

The upside is that the server cazn shave 75 per cent of your electricity bills, Rauch Medien calculates.

The market for low-power servers is an arena chip makers are increasingly keen to sell to. Transmeta has a deal with RLX Technologies, and Intel is pushing its 0.13 micron Pentium III chips, aka Tualatin, as a server CPU. ®