AMD Hexcore route vs. the Intel Core i7

I am thinking about getting a new motherboard/CPU/memory - and I want to know if I should go the AMD Hexcore route vs. the Intel Core i7 route.

Which will give me the most speed for the dollar?

AMD is probably the better bang for your buck, depending on what you plan to use the computer for. You can get the Phenom II 1090T for $255 at Newegg while an i7-950 is $295 for similar or slightly higher performance. Of course the top of the line i7-980x blows away anything from AMD, but costs $1000.

If you are mostly going to be gaming, the AMD or even a cheaper CPU would be more than enough; spend your budget on the best graphics card(s) you can. If you are going to be doing CPU intensive work, the i7 is probably worth the cost difference.

Thanx for the feedback.

I will probably be splitting my time between Office/ Photoshop/ Gaming.

Of those, Photoshop is the most impacted by cpu, and pretty much any i7 above the 920 will beat the 1090T on that, all else being equal. The difference isn't big though until you get to the more expensive i7's. The i7 also outperforms a bit on games, but of course the video card is a much bigger factor there.

Personally, I'm usually on a budget with personal use PC's, and AMD is great for that. If you have a few bucks and no significant other watching the credit card statement, the i7 will be a bit faster, and that's what its all about, right?

i7 definately has better benchmark results. If you have a tight budget then go with the AMD, and get a better gfx card. Otherwise spring for the i7. They still beat the hexcores.