If you want to spend under $150 on any given component, I think AMD can be good bang for the buck compared to what Intel gives. If you're willing to spend over $250, AMD can't match it. Your BIL probably spent less on his by far, and I'm betting that if he spent the same amount on Intel he'd get even worse performance than he does now.

If cost is your overriding concern, you can get good performance from AMD for what little you spend. If smooth gameplay is equally important, and you upgrade bits and pieces as opposed to doing the whole thing at once, you can get much better out of Intel.

Of course, if you insist on having multiple PCs to pay to maintain, then AMD becomes even more attractive because saving $75 on one CPU isn't nearly as big as saving it on 3 or more. However, in a single PC scenario, Intel will win unless you're unwise about where you buy stuff from and what you're buying.




The Jedi Master


The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter