Fab 32 starts Penryn production
Intel’s new $3 billion factory in Chandler, Arizona opened for production on Thursday, October 24th. The new Intel plant is known as Fab 32. It will mass produce chipsets with circuits nearly one-third smaller than previously made, with a design known as Penryn.
Penryn has circuits that are only 45 nanometers wide, compared to the standard circuit width of 65 nanometers. To get a better idea of the miniature size, a nanometer is equal to a billionth of one meter. The Penryn chipsets will be used in desktop computers, laptops and also in servers that run computer networks. Intel has imposed a tight deadline for its shipment of Penryn processors, as they are scheduled to hit the retail sales market on November 12th.
The Penryn design is considered a huge breakthrough in technology as smaller circuits generally provide faster computing speeds with less energy consumption and produce less heat inside the computing device. Smaller chipset design also allows for better use of space and more productivity, as more circuits can be fit into a smaller area of the motherboard.
Intel is rushing to get its 45nm chipsets into the marketplace as quickly as possible to gain an edge over its competitor, AMD. AMD currently manufactures its chipsets using the 65nm technology and will not begin producing the 45nm version until sometime in 2008.
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David Stellmack
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