It used to be easy to compare the CPU's. They both had similar characteristics that could be tested on the same platform. With Duo Core, Quad, Extreme, 64FX, 64X2, the only way to truely test the Intel CPU is to pair it with an Intel chipset mobo. Reason being, Intel doesn't share technology with associative hardware manufacturers untill late after the initial release of newer CPU's. AMD shares during development. That's why Intel had the SLI incompatability for a while and also why you have to use their mobo's to see it perform at it's best. AMD's choice of mobo's that support their chips far exceeds Intel. Secondly, you have to specify which platform you want to compare. Power or Performance and power / performance. In what I work on, laptops, AMD has the best power consumption performance which is crucial in battery life. But then, you sacrifice the Intel performance? There are so many different CPU's right now that it would take a year of reading to compare them adequately enough to make a decision. Too many factors, budget, what software applications, video requirements, overclocking, which mobo you like, power consumption, ...etc. I would say that price, performance and longevity makes the Intel the "general" choice. This is a link I use to review 2 particular CPU's against each other when making a decision.http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html
