The AMD 64 is WAY better than the xp series; the 64 is a 64-bit processor. The AMDs are better than anything Pentium has, but some of the Pentiums are better than xps are for certain things. This is basically how those processors measure up (generally speaking): AMD 64>Pentium 4>AMD xp series>Pentium 3. For certain things (namely gaming and overclocking), the xp series is better than the Pentium 4 series (Pentiums generally run MUCH warmer than AMD processors do). To answer your first question, the AMD 64 3200+ is better than the Pentium 4 2.8ghz processor.