Intel builds fastest key chip component

SANTA CLARA: Intel Corp. on Monday said it had built the smallest and fastest

transistor, the key building block for microprocessors, allowing it to build

speedier microprocessors for computers and other devices in future.

The new transistor, which can finish 2 million calculations in the time it

takes a speeding bullet to travel an inch, needs only low voltage to operate,

Intel said.

Within five to 10 years, the transistor will allow Intel to build

microprocessors that contain more than 400 million transistors, operate at

speeds as fast as 10 gigahertz, and require less than one volt to operate, the

company said. In contrast, today's Pentium 4 processor contains 42 million

transistors and runs at 1.5 gigahertz.

International Business Machines Corp. on Monday also said it had started

production of powerful new microchips for computer servers and communications

gear.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.