Google going after Intel's hottest chips?

The Register unveils one of Google's secrets for keeping their data center costs low. The site claims an ex-Google employee unveiled the search engine demands Intel to ship them server processors that can operate at temperatures five degrees centigrade higher than their standard qualification. Google's servers run hotter and this enables them to save millions of dollars a year in cooling costs. However, Intel flat-out denied they have such a deal with Google:

If the chips failed prematurely at these higher temperatures, the former Googler says, Intel was obliged to replace them at no extra charge.

Intel denies this was ever the case. "This is NOT true," a company spokesman said in an email. Google declined to comment on its relationship with Intel. "Google invests heavily in technical facilities and has dozens of facilities around the world with many computers," reads a statement from the company. "However, we don't disclose details about our infrastructure or supplier relationships."

The ex-Google employee learned of this Intel pact a little more than a year ago, during a Google "Tech Talk" open to anyone at the company. The talk was given by a Google thermal dynamics engineer, part of a small team - perhaps no larger than two people - that oversees heat issues inside the company's data centers.