The Core i7-860 spanks everything AMD has at $280 @ newegg, there's only a few odd benchmarks AMDs $300 top six-core CPU wins.
Except that:
1- The top AMD six core is actually $275, not $300.
2- The AMD motherboards are cheaper, you can easily save at least $100 on that.
3- The AMD motherboards are more likely to work with future CPUs (Intel has already changed sockets between Nehalem and Sandy Bridge... again).
3- A 6 core CPU is probably more future proof than a 4 core one (even if those Intel cores are more powerful individually than the AMD ones, not arguing that).
I agree with you that the AMD advantage is smaller at this price point than at the $100-$200 one, but the advantage is still real.
1-So the difference is 5 usd that doesn't change anything.
2-100 usd, really? i7-860 use 1166 socket, and there are some 1166 mothers that cost less than this so I call this bullshit.
3-Who cares, unless you are a hardware enthusiast you're probably going to use a i7-860 for so many years that this doesn't make any difference. And if you are you want the best not the cheapest.
3(sic)- What? A chip that need 6 cores to archive the same performance than one that has 4 is obviously technically inferior.
I really think AMD should stop astroturfing it's dishonest and doesn't speak well of the company.