Intel Corp., the world's biggest computer chip maker, said Tuesday that it has introduced the fastest version yet of its Celeron family, a 533 megahertz processor, for PCs costing less than 1,000 US dollars, according to a report from the company.

The chip, available Tuesday at a price of 167 dollars each in 1,000-unit quantities, offers PC users additional performance at little extra cost, Intel said.

Previously, the fastest Celeron processor was the 500-megahertz version. Intel said it plans to remain aggressive in the low-cost segment of the PC market, where it has regained share from rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

"Last year our goal was to regain our position in the value PC segment," said Pat Gelsinger, vice president of Intel's desktop products group. "This year we have that position and we want to clearly commit our intent to keep it."

Since the first Celeron was launched in 1998 the line has become the second best-selling processor in the world, behind Intel's leading Pentium family.

The Celeron 533 megahertz is the first of many new-value PC desktop and mobile products to come from Intel in 2000, Gelsinger said.

He noted that Intel plans to launch Celerons at frequencies of 566 and 600 megahertz sometime in the first half of this year.

With the new manufacturing process, Intel will "have a lot of headroom" to upgrade products to higher frequencies, Gelsinger said, adding that Intel just introduced an 800 megahertz version of the Pentium III.