Intel gets access to Cray's "interconnect personnel and intellectual property" with the agreement, Intel said in a statement. The technology and expertise will help Intel build its high-performance-computing portfolio as it looks to scale performance on servers, Intel said.

Intel will pay US$140 million for Cray's assets, Cray said in a statement. As part of the deal, 74 Cray employees will join Intel.

Cray has made a name for itself as a supercomputer company. The company's XT5-HE supercomputer -- also called Jaguar -- at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee is the third-fastest supercomputer in the world, according to the Top500 list of fastest supercomputers issued in November.

Cray's interconnect team is also responsible for building the interconnect to be used in the supercomputer code-named Cascade, which will use Intel's x86 chips.