Intel Corporation today introduced its highest-performing Pentium� 4 processor ever, running at 2.2 gigahertz (GHz), or 2.2 billion cycles per second. Built using Intel's most advanced manufacturing technologies, the processor sets the stage for a new class of high-performance PCs that power increasingly popular digital music, photography and video uses, as well the latest applications being developed for the workplace. Systems based on the Pentium 4 processor at 2.2 GHz are available immediately from leading computer makers worldwide.

The new Pentium 4 processor is built on the semiconductor industry's most advanced manufacturing technology, Intel's 0.13-micron fabrication process, using highly-efficient copper interconnects. Using this technology, Intel was able to increase the chip's on-board memory (called level two cache) while reducing overall processor size by over 30 percent. Intel's 0.13-micron process technology features the world's fastest and smallest transistors (60 nanometer) used in volume production. These transistors are the foundation of the industry's highest performance microprocessors.The Pentium 4 processor at 2.2 GHz is the world's highest-performance desktop processor as measured by the SPEC CPU* 2000 benchmark running Microsoft* Windows* XP.

Intel also announced that its popular Intel 845 chipset now supports DDR memory, providing the industry with a high volume DDR solution that delivers both high reliability and memory interoperability. With its 845 and 850 chipsets, Intel is now shipping the Pentium 4 processor in all performance and mainstream computing segments with a full range of platform solutions supporting all major memory technologies. Two new Intel Desktop Board products, the D845PT and D845BG, support the 845 chipset and DDR memory and have been shipping since December. Today Intel also announced two desktop boards (D850MVSE and D845BGSE) that support up to five USB 2.0 ports. The higher bandwidth connections available through Hi-Speed USB 2.0 capitalize on the faster processing power of the Intel Pentium 4 processor. The two boards are being launched in advance of Intel's introduction of a USB 2.0-integrated chipset that will arrive in PCs later this year.

The Pentium 4 processor at 2.2 GHz, with 512KB level two cache, is available now and priced at $562 in 1,000-unit quantities. The Pentium 4 processor at 2.0 "A" GHz with 512KB level two cache ("A" signifies the 0.13-micron version) is priced at $364.