HP has selected Via's Eden Platform processors to power its forthcoming range of Compaq-branded enterprise thin clients.

Under the terms of the agreement the Taiwanese chip maker's Eden ESP ultra low power chip will be incorporated into the Compaq t5125, t5520 and t5525 thin clients.

Via claimed that the chip's ultra-low thermal profile maximises performance in the small form factor devices. The Eden architecture features a fanless design, with 128MB Ram and up to 256MB Compact Flash memory for current firmware and future updates.

"By using the VIA Eden Platform our thin clients are using lower power for key components," said Greg Schmidt, a product marketing manager at HP.

"Additionally, Via's high-performance, low-power design allows for a smaller footprint. This is a big bonus to a traditional desktop customer wishing to capitalise on the security and manageability of thin client computing."

The Compaq thin clients are expected to be available mid-June 2005.