SANTA CLARA, CALIF. -- Intel Corp. introduced its tiniest-ever
Pentium 4 processors, as the world's biggest chipmaker revs up a
new manufacturing method that builds faster products and trims
costs. The chips use smaller, 0.13 micron wires, rather than the 0.18
micron ones in older products. These circuits, 1,000 times
thinner than a human hair, help semiconductors run faster without
overheating. The new chips run at 2 gigahertz and 2.2 GHz. The Santa Clara, Calif., company is updating its factories to
make the slimmer chips, with four now equipped for the new
technique and two more coming on line this year. The processors
include twice as much memory as older Pentium 4s first sold in
November 2000 and are more than 30 percent smaller. "That investment is really going to pay off for us," Intel Vice
President Louis Burns said. "We're at the beginning and just
beginning to put the gas pedal down." Intel will charge $364 each for a 2-GHz chip in 1,000 unit lots
and $562 for a 2.2 GHz model. The company cut the price of an
older 2GHz chip by 15 percent to $342, according to its Web site.
Intel also added a new chip set that communicates with the rest
of a computer using faster, double-data-rate memory. Separately, rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. started selling a
faster version of its flagship chip, the Athlon XP 2000+. The
Sunnyvale, Calif., company said the 1.67 GHz processor performs
as well as a 2 GHz Pentium 4.