Well, not just about what the clock speed of the processor, how many cores in it, or how much cache is per core, AMD HTT moves twice the capabilities of Intel QPI, and so far, all the explanations that favor Intel not touch this important factor.
That's but a single part of what adds up to an entire equation, might also throw in AMD mobos have more PCI lanes than Intel typically do also - but if your CPUs can't utilize the resources then the overall system will still lag behind Intel
Depends, on the price range and needs.
If you need a better multi threaded performance then the AMD is mostly better in any price range. But single core performance is awesome in Intel which translates to better performance in gaming with Intel and better video Editing and multi threading stuff for Intel for the price of course.