Intel ignited a new round of competition with Sun Microsystems and International Business Machines on Thursday by disclosing plans to bring its most advanced chip-making technology to its Itanium line of business chips for the first time.

The efforts, which will unfold after 2008, should bring higher performance and greater energy efficiency to the line of chips designed for back-office servers that store corporate data and software.

The disclosure came during a briefing for journalists in San Francisco where Intel unveiled a new chip – code named Kittson – and details for a chip it previously identified as Poulson.

With Poulson, Intel will use its 32-nanometer manufacturing technology, a process that constructs chip circuits with smaller dimensions than its present 65 and 45 nanometer processes. Up to now, Intel has not built Itanium chips with its most advanced manufacturing, and the change reflects a new thrust against chips from Sun and IBM.

A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, and as transistors get smaller they can improve chip performance and decrease its energy use.

For Intel, the new push behind Itanium reflects the Santa Clara’s company’s continued interest in the market for high-end servers used for the most important corporate computing jobs. Sun’s Sparc chips have long been a reliable choice for the big Unix servers that target this market. In May, IBM raised the stakes by rolling out its new high-speed Power6 chip and renewing its vow to target companies such as Sun and Hewlett-Packard, the main user of Itanium.

An IBM spokesman could not be reached for comment. But Sun’s David Yen, executive vice president at the Santa Clara company, called the Intel strategy an effort to increase performance by “brute force.”

“In the high-end area, they are actually behind the technology curve,” Yen said. “I think they are trying to turn it into a macho demonstration.”

Indeed, Intel’s jump to 32-nanometer technology is an unusual step because it will skip the use of 45-nanometers. An Itanium chip code-named Tukwila, made with 65-nanometer technology, will reach the market in late 2008.

Poulson will follow, though Intel didn’t say exactly when. However, the company did say the chip will have more than four cores, or computing brains, a feature designed to improve performance.

“The number of cores will be an area where we are pressing hard,” said Rory McInerney, director of engineering for the product line.

Intel offered little detail on Kittson. However, the new chip suggests a continued commitment to a product family that has been slow to build market momentum.

“We have a very long road map and commitment,” said Diane Bryant, a vice president.