An informed choice invloves more than just the type of CPU.
The keyword should be Platform. Which platform (Intel based or AMD based) is going to suit your needs best.
While Processors are important, the chipset that the CPU runs on should be the deciding factor.
Each new chipset developed is made with the consumer in mind and they have features that will hopefully sell mainboards.
Strangely, few seem to be aware that they should be shopping for features rather than catch-phrases.
If you have a specific main purpose or varied uses for your PC, then you shop for the PC that does all or most of what it is supposed to do.
Saying that, at present most high end machines do various jobs very well, if you can determine which type of PC runs your applications the best, then you may be better off with that, but cost is also a consideration to most, so compromises often need to be made for financial reasons.
So, you can see, the right choice is not the same for everyone anyway, despite the CPU or platform.
One should strive to know which one's to avoid.


Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24&