Advanced Micro Devices began selling its top chip for desktop PCs made with a 65-nanometer design today, continuing its efforts to keep up with Intel as the industry migrates from 90nm design to a faster, more efficient generation of processors.

By manufacturing its dual-core Athlon 64 X2 chip on the smaller geometry, AMD will be able to increase manufacturing output while improving the chips" performance and power efficiency, said Jack Huynh, a market development manager for AMD.

Some PC vendors are selling the new chip in computers already, and by the first quarter of 2007 that list will include Acer, Dell, Founder Electronics, Hewlett-Packard, Packard Bell, and Tsinghua Tongfang, according to AMD.

The move to 65nm manufacturing is crucial for AMD as the company strives to keep up with a flurry of new processors from Intel. Intel had a rough year in 2006, losing ground to AMD in market share, but has rallied in recent months. The company launched its Core 2 Duo family of desktop chips in July and its quad-core Core 2 Extreme in November. Intel switched its chip manufacturing plants to a smaller architecture months ago, and already sells more 65nm chips than 90nm chips.