*double post

Intel chips are the best performing chips, especially for gaming, but you have to remember that you'd need to be buying one of the top 5 Intel chips to be at a level you couldn't match with AMD.

According to YouGamers (linked from 3dmakrs homepage) the top ten best value chips, measured by estimated 3dmarks per dollar, are all AMD chips with most of the list following suite.

http://www.yougamers.com/hardware/st...ndperformance/

Intel has better top-end chips, but in the mid range there's not much difference between a $125 Athlon X2 and a $150 core2 duo. If you want to build a really serious gaming rig without much concern for price you'd probably want Intel, but if you're looking at a mid-range system with a $75-200 cpu, you can get the same performance out of either brand if you pick the right chip.

We've been arguing the AMD vs. Intel debate for nearly two decades. No one post on any forum is going to provide a definitive answer. Every couple of years one comes out on top of the other in performance, let's look back a little shal we?
AMD developed widespread 64-bit technology first, but Intel beat them to dual core.
AMD's first dual cores performed better than Intels, and Intels quads perform better than AMDs now.
AMD's opterons performed better than Intels Xeons for a long time.
Intels Core2 series butchered AMDs Turions in laptops, and then even grew to out-perform the Athlon in the desktop market.
It looks like AMD is going to beat intel to the market with integrated CPU/GPU pairs.

They're always going to go back and forth for dominance in perforamance, but when it comes down to it, I don't think AMD will ever surpass Intel in market share, unless Intel goes completely out of business. Anybody who's really qualified to recommend hardware should be able to consider cost, performance, compatibility, upgradeability, warranty, brand, and all the other factors in picking a CPU for an individuals needs.

Ohhh man...

Well this thread has been smashed to pieces with one big swing...

I can't wait to see what AMD/ATI come out with in the future!

But for now, I think i'm going to stick with intel...