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Intel on Monday announced a new round of mobile microprocessors to power budget notebooks, while rival Advanced Micro Devices started shipping a 1.3-GHz version of its budget Duron processor.

Intel's seven new processors are designed to bring greater power to low-priced notebooks that serve demanding users, according to the company. All are built using Intel's 0.13-micron fabrication process, which allows the company to produce smaller chips that use up to 40 percent less power but can offer performance boosts of up to 20 percent more than chips built with Intel's older 0.18-micron process, Intel officials said.

For the "ultra-portable" segment of the mobile market, defined as high-powered notebooks that consume minimal energy, Intel launched three new Pentium III-M processors and a new Celeron chip. Speeds in this group of energy-saving chips reach up to 886 MHz, officials said.

Chip Families Grow

The new Pentium III-M processors also feature Intel's SpeedStep technology, which allows the chip to automatically switch between maximum performance mode and battery saving mode. They include a "deeper sleep" mode as well, which helps save a notebook's battery life by utilizing even less energy than the low power mode, as little as two-tenths of a watt, Intel officials said.

Intel also launched three mobile Celeron processors with speeds up to 1.2 GHz. These chips are designed for lower-cost notebooks and put less of an emphasis on reducing energy consumption.

Hewlett-Packard, IBM, NEC, Toshiba, Compaq, and Fujitsu are among the computer makers that plan to use these new chips in their products, Intel officials said.

In the low-voltage processor group, the 866-MHz Pentium III-M and the 850-MHz Pentium III-M are each priced at $316 for thousand-unit lots (as sold to system vendors). The 750-MHz Pentium III-M is priced at $209, and the 650-MHz low-voltage Celeron processor is priced at $144.

The new Celeron processors designed for low-priced notebooks cost $170 for the 1.2-GHz version, $134 for the 1.13-GHz processor, and $107 for the 1.06-GHz chip.

Duron Matches

AMD, meanwhile, has updated its competing Duron CPU, which is aimed at mainstream business and home PC users.

The latest addition to AMD's Duron family offers a small speed increase over AMD's previously fastest Duron chip, which runs at 1.2 GHz. However, the product matches the clock speed of rival Intel's fastest Celeron processor.

The 1.3-GHz Duron processor is priced at $118 in quantities of 1000 units, a statement from AMD said.

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