There are probably going to be different outcomes depending on what applications you're using. If you have a specific program in mind, many users may have already gauged how well it works for a given piece of hardware. I suspect that the outcome will vary depending on the application used. Back in the early 1990's, when many CPUs couldn't do certain mathematical functions like floating-decimal point calculations, you had to install a secondary chip, a co-processor onto your board. At the time, there was this flight-sim game called "Falcon 3" that required just that for some of its higher settings. According to legend, many people went out and bought co-processors like the 80387 thinking that if it works on Falcon3, it must make the system faster - but it didn;t work tat way, it just helped with applications that used that specific kind of equation. Similarly, an AMD or Intel processor isn't going to give you all-around improvement - one will lead the other in some applications. However, at the far end of the spectrum, Intel is supposed to lead AMD in the quad-core race so crucial to hardcore gamers.If gaming is your thing (if you're asking to compare two things for you, really need to specify your intended use) the really critical factor is probably your type of video card, especially whether its PCI-e or AGP (and which generation of either) and how much RAM (and its speed it has and what kind of GPU runs it.