Processor giant AMD is planning to adopt a new branding strategy in a bid to scupper the perception that it is lagging behind arch rival Intel.

PC processors have traditionally been measured on the amount of megahertz or gigahertz at which they run. AMD seemed to be leading the way with its Athlon processor, the first to reach the 1GHz mark. However, there is now a huge gap between the fastest Athlon at 1.4GHz and Intel's 2GHz Pentium 4.

The plan is to steer away from concentrating on a chip's clock speed and make consumers understand that performance relies on more than just this. The evidence backs AMD's strategy with its 1.4GHz model outperforming the 1.7GHz Pentium 4 in a number of benchmarks.

Tim Hill of Lambie-Nairn, the branding experts that reinvented BT Cellnet as O2, believes chipmakers are waking up to reality. "It is like cars: the size of the engine may be different, but people will buy a BMW instead of a Ford for a whole host of reasons," he said.