HP's chip choice good news for AMD

Hewlett Packard (HP) has chosen to put AMD's Athlon XP chip in its upcoming business desktop PC.

The decision is good news for AMD: for the first time, the Intel rival's processors have now been placed in a business desktop by three major PC makers - IBM, Dell and now HP.

AMD has had to play second fiddle to Intel for many years. While it has won contracts for its chips in consumer PCs, analysts have said the only way to compete seriously with Intel is for the company to get its processors into the major PC companies' business desktops, where the majority of profits are made.

HP's D315 PC is currently only on sale in the US but will be launched in Europe in the next few months.

In addition to features that help IT managers reduce cost of ownership, the D315 features Double Data Rate (DDR) memory technology, which provides up to twice the data-moving capability.

It also includes Nvidia chipset and graphics technologies - which HP claims provides exceptional screen resolution - and Nvidia's nForce processor platform, which uses HyperTransport technology to reduce data-movement bottlenecks.

Jeff Groudan, head of marketing for HP's business PC group, said: "With its new approach to processor design, the AMD Athlon XP processor offers both compelling performance and exceptional reliability.

"This powerful combination of technologies in the new D315 Business PC also allows HP to meet a growing demand for AMD technology and offer increased choices for mainstream and value-conscious business users," he added.