I'm not much help... years ago I knew someone who totally swore by AMD over Intel, but that was a long time ago, and quality can change quick in the world of technology.

I'll ask my former partner, though. Not long ago he built a machine and I'll ask him what chip he used; knowing him, he researched all of them before he chose one.

If you want absolute top performance, go Intel. If you want something like 80% of the performance of Intel's top of the line right now for a lot less money, go AMD.

Also, AMD changes their CPU sockets less often. With Intel, you'll quickly be stuck without an upgrade path on your motherboard because Intel's next line of CPUs won't fit the socket any more. AMD tends to keep the same socket for a few years. And when they do change sockets, AMD usually continue making versions of their newer CPUs that will work with older sockets. Meanwhile, Intel is notorious for not doing that. Forcing you to buy a new mobo along the the CPU.

Intel's Hyper-Threading is only good for productivity work, not gaming. Even then, most people don't even bother with it and go for the version of the i5 without Hyper-Threading.

If you do decide to go AMD, I strongly recommend getting any of the new 3-series FX chips (Piledriver) and avoiding the 1-series (Bulldozer). The 8350, 8320, 8300, 6300, 4320, 4300 are the ones to get.

I personally haven't used an Intel CPU in any system I've built, during the last 10 years. I've had very little trouble with these AMD systems. Never overheated or failed on me. My current computer is 5 years old now. While I did some minor upgrades to it in the meantime (swapped CPU and video card for better ones), it's still essentially the same build.

I was seriously thinking about switching to Intel, should I do a major upgrade again. But then AMD released the updated 3-series FX CPUs, which are a big improvement over their previous FX parts. They were way behind, but now they've caught up significantly in terms of performance. It's no longer a cut-and-dried decision.

If you're adventurous and want to try overclocking, AMD doesn't lock their CPUs. Meanwhile, Intel sells both locked and unlocked versions, charging you extra for the unlocked CPUs that can be overclocked.

The GPU is more important now than the CPU, anyway, if gaming is a priority. You can take the money you save on the CPU and invest it in a better GPU and other parts. Overall, I just think AMD offers better value.