They have essentially the same performance. Heironious is correct, typically the intel is more powerful per core on MOST applications, but the difference is minimal. Also remember the AMD is an eight core, and has a higher clock speed, and is a little cheaper. Heironious also noted that you'll need a different motherboard with an AM3+ socket for the AMD. In regards to your build, I would suggest getting a 1TB hdd since they are only like $10 more than a 500 GB. a 750 watt psu isn't quite overkill, but you could probably save yourself money and space inside your case by getting a 500 watt.