Introduction
             Choosing an architecture for computers is not a glamorous decision,
             but the choice can have long-term and significant ramifications for
             decision makers. For many, the choice is little more than Apple v. PC,
             although the issue of Linux v. Windows is gaining increased visibility.
             However, once the choice has been made to use a PC rather than an Apple,
             there are still several architecture choices that must be made. AMD and
             Intel are the two giants in this industry, offering the flagship Athlon and
             Pentium processors. Both companies also manufacture other processors, but
             these are the two powerhouse brands associated with each company. This
             research considers the Athlon XP and Pentium 4 processors and which
             processor is appropriate for today's business environment.
             Athlon XP Analysis
             The Athlon XP has slower clock speed than the Pentium 4, but because
             of its unique architecture, including DDR memory, the performance is not
             noticeably slower than the Pentium 4. For example, although AMD marketed a
             1.6GHz Athlon XP, its performance rivaled that of the 2.2GHz Pentium 4 in
             many benchmark tests. Lower clock speed does not always translate into
             slower performance in the AMD environment (Metz 108). Despite this, AMD
             put fewer innovations into the Athlon XP and more into other Athlon product
             lines with the result that it focused nearly exclusively on clock speed for
             The Athlon XP is used in both traditional desktops as well as in
             laptop machines using the Athlon XP-M. Traditionally, the Athlon XP has
             been considered competition to the Intel Celeron and low-end Pentium 4
             machines, but not as powerful as the Intel Pentium 4 when the latter is run
             in more powerful environments. At this point, the Athlon XP is being
             relegated to the low-end of AMD's processor offerings with the company
             focusing majo...