AMD expects to reveal who it will build its first 300mm wafer fab with - and when - by the end of the year, the head of the company's Computing Product Group, Dirk Meyer, has said.

There's no rush, it seems, since the economics of producing Athlons that are half the die size of the Pentium 4 suit AMD very well.

AMD's Fab 30, in Dresden, is currently punching out all the Athlons and Durons it can, using a 0.18 micron process. Meyer said the plant will achieve maximum output by the end of this year. During the second half of 2002, AMD will begin converting production lines over to 0.13 micron, he said.

AMD is, of course, scheduled to ship 0.13 micron Athlons and Durons before then, in the first half of next year: the Thoroughbred Athlon and a Duron codenamed Appaloosa. In the second half, Thoroughbred will transition to Barton, a 0.13 micron Athlon fabbed using silicon-on-insulator technology. AMD's 64-bit Hammer family will use that process too. ®