NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Chip stocks are on fire.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the performance of 17 chip and chip-equipment companies, is up 22 percent year-to-date.

But ask the average investor about chips and he probably can tell you a little bit about Intel, maybe Texas Instruments, and not much more. As such, these two titans have done even better than the index, commonly referred to as the SOX, with gains of 26 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

"People are stampeding back into the good old names that we all recognize. Familiarity makes them easy buys," said Mark Schultz, portfolio manager with M&T Asset Management, which subadvises the Vision family of mutual funds.

Still, there is more to the chip sector than Intel and TI, and investors might be wise to look at other lesser-known names. In fact, because of their big runups, Schultz said that he's recently trimmed his position in Intel and Texas Instruments.

Safe semiconductors? Fund managers favor the following five chip companies for the long haul. Company  P/E*  EPS Gr. Rate*  Analog Devices  43.8  20%  International Rectifier  18.8  20%  Intersil  27.6  25%  Linear Technology  40.2  25%  Maxim Integrated Products  35.3  25%   * based on stock price, earnings estimates and long-term growth rates as of 5/6/03  Source:  FirstCall

Two smaller companies that Schultz likes are Intersil, which makes networking chips that enable devices like laptops to connect to the Internet through wireless area networks (Intersil competes with Intel's new Centrino chip) and International Rectifier, which manufactures power management chips for use in devices ranging from computers to automobiles and aerospace equipment. The chips process electricity into a more usable form for these products.

Schultz said the two companies are in smaller niche areas and the stocks are not nearly as expensive as Intel and TI, which trade at 32 and 50 times 2003 earnings estimates. Intersil trades at a P/E of 28 while International Rectifier has a multiple of 19 times fiscal 2004 earnings estimates.

Other fund managers say that analog-semiconductor companies look very appealing. Analog chips are used in a wide array of consumer electronics devices, helping to process things such as light and sound waves into digital signals and vice versa. For example, analog chips in an MP3 player changes the digital music file into amplified sound.

Sunil Reddy, manager of the Fifth Third Technology fund says that analog chip companies like Maxim Integrated Technology and Analog Devices, which he owns, are less volatile than companies with heavy PC exposure like Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.

The maturation of the personal computer business has tended to lead to huge booms and busts for companies like Intel and AMD. In times of major PC upgrades, the companies tend to do extremely well. But during the trough of an upgrade cycle, sales and earnings drop off dramatically.

"The profit margins in the analog area hold up much better than some chip companies that are more cyclical," said Reddy. Although these stocks have run up sharply as well this year, Reddy said they still look attractive since earnings are expected to increase dramatically this year.

Reddy is also making some bets on two turnaround plays in the communications chip sector, Lucent spin-off Agere Systems and Broadcom. Reddy concedes that he might be a bit early, but thinks that things have bottomed. Both Agere and Broadcom make chips that are used in cable modems and wireless networking devices.

Agere reported a narrower loss in its latest quarter and improving sequential sales. And earnings estimates for Broadcom have risen dramatically in the past month following a strong first quarter.

More about semiconductors Intel backs 2Q outlook Texas Instruments sees growth SARS hitting semiconductor stocks? Is Centrino the next big thing?

Joe Basset, an analyst for the One Group Technology fund, is taking a more cautious approach to the chip sector, however. "We haven't been buying in the past couple of weeks. If anything, given the way valuations have expanded, we're more likely to trim positions than chase things," he said.

But Basset does think that analog chip companies are the safest place to be in the sector for the long term. He owns Maxim as well as another big analog player, Linear Technology, and also owns shares of Intersil because it has an analog business in addition to wireless.

Still, he said he's not buying out of fear of what will happen to chip stocks if demand doesn't pick up in the second half of the year as much as investors are betting it will.

"We're not suicidally negative about the economy. But we aren't completely on board with the hyped-up steroid-based optimism either," Basset said.