Though slow compared with state-of-the-art multicore server CPUs, Atom processors draw less electricity to run and cool them -- as little as one-twentieth of the energy required by conventional server processors, according to Jim Larus, director of software architecture at Microsoft Research, speaking at the company's TechFest earlier this week ().

"They're not as powerful, so you may require many more of these servers in the data center, but since each one consumes less energy, the data center as a whole can be more efficient and get more work done for the same amount of energy," he said.

today that the cost of the energy to power a data center over time is far greater than the cost of the server hardware itself.

In the video, Larus shows a prototype server rack holding 50 Atom systems, which, because of the low heat generated by the Atom, doesn't require a powerful fan for cooling the rack, though there are still fans for each individual Atom CPU. These could be used in alongside conventional servers and .

Microsoft is also working on to take advantage of the Atom's fast sleep/wake features, , director of scalable and multicore computing at Microsoft.