Intel IMO has always been the better chip to go for, and still is, and always will be..
The fact that it goes up to 4.3GHz on air.. I still believe that a 3.8GHz Q9550 will be a lot faster, the extra cache helps ofcourse and by the looks of it.. higher FSB too? One thing though, I don't see why it is going to be the next gaming chip, I've read claims of Intels Q6600 beating the Q9950 by AMD, so whats the deal with that? The AMD is much newer than the Q6600. I believe the Q6600 is still by far one of the best chips Intel have ever made. Sure, the Q9*** series are nice with the extra cache and FSB etc, though.. they're still not as stable as the Q6600, the temperature sensors don't work too well on some of the chips etc!