Dell, which was so fixated on Intel it couldn't get off the dime and embrace AMD until AMD lost its edge, is going to use VIA chips in a system code-named Fortuna - presumably after the Roman goddess of luck - that puts 12 complete VIA -based servers in a 3.5-inch box, according to a piece in the New York Times.

The paper says that's three times Dell's usual density and since VIA's 1.3GHz or 1.6GHz Nano chips, usually used in laptops, only eat 15-30 Watts, the $400 system will use only a tenth the power of a standard server.

Officially designated the XXS11-VX8, the system is aimed at companies that buy hundreds or thousands of servers for web hosting and the Times says it can only be had through a special group at Dell that creates custom hardware for big customers.

See, hosting doesn't need as much oomph as your typical business software.

The Times recalls that RLX, the first blade company, tried to do the same thing using Transmeta laptop chips and failed.

Of course laptop chips are more powerful these days and the Nano can run 64-bit operating systems and handle virtualization.

It's a very big deal for VIA, which has only got something like 0.4% of the market.