I7 Socket

A question to all those out there. Where do you see the I7 socket going? I have managed to find some deals so that I can get an I7 as cheap as an 955(in an AM3 socket board). So it is between those two processors. I am really tempted for the i7 since it is overall the better processor and I will be using its workhorse capabilities via some image processing algorithms I am building and testing, but I am also a gamer, so both I see as having their shining points. What it comes down to for me is now, which socket will last me longer. I know that AMD is notorious(if that can be used as a positive) for letting their sockets live for a long time. Intel not so much, however their 775 socket has also been around for ages.

So, does anyone have any info on how long they expect this 1366 socket to last? I know that I5s are supposed to be coming out later this year but that is all I know about them, will they be using another socket all together and then intel just jumps ship and sticks with that socket? Or will intel keep making processors for the 1366 socket for a little while? Now I understand that the i7 will last me a long time, but in 4 years time, ideally what I would like to do is just buy a processor and GPU, plop those in and have basically another 4 years of a high end system, though I know that is asking alot of the computer industry, so as I said, this is an ideal. I do know that I would be able to do this with AMD with their track record. But I keep hearing about the tick-tock cycle of intel whatever the hell that is supposed to be.

The question falls, will the 1366 socket be dead in 1 year or will it last for another 3 years at least(and by last I mean processors being made for it)?