Intel is integrating its Intel Iris Pro graphics found in Haswell PC chips into the new Xeon processor E3-1200 product family (code named Crystal Well) for low-end to midrange servers. Expected to be available later this year, Intel says the combination or Xeon and Iris Pro technology will support rich remote workloads like CAD, 3D rendering, video editing and other complex workflows and will help OEMs to design and distribute dense and energy efficient solutions for the data center.

The integrated graphics subsystem has 40 execution units and 128MB of embedded DRAM. The CPU and the GPU share memory resources.

Servers already harness CPUs and GPUs for delivery of online gaming and workstation applications. Nvidia has formulated the GRID server reference design specifically for that purpose, and the model combines x86 server processors with Nvidia’s discrete graphics cards. Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM are offering GRID servers.

Intel has aso added graphics virtualization technologies, which speed up video encode and decode on the chips. The new technologies could provide direct access, share or virtualize a GPU.