Intel's quality tends to be better (You get what you pay for)... AMD are really for people on low budgets, AMD Processors tend to get hotter than Intel Processors. It shouldn't really make much difference which you go for. Intel also have higher end processors such as 8 core XEON processors for servers and the i7 which AMD cannot match currently
It really depends what you want to use your computer for, and what kind of budget you are on. It would seem their processors are the same in terms of speed apart from Intel's higher end processors, it's just in experience Intel processors don't reach as high temperature's as easily.
Look at the temperatures of an i5/i7 compared to a phenom II on stock coolers and tell me that AMD chips produce more heat
Neither are better than the other, same goes for ATi/Nvidia, both do what they say they will, and both can do anything that you ask of them.
I am sure someone will come in here and say "but look at the benchmarks!!!" but unless you have more money than sense and want to build a system purely for bragging rights, or are into benchmarking, that is pointless. A Phenom II x3 or x4 will max out any game and overclock pretty well, an i5 or i7 will max out any game. Both will perform any task that you want them for.
Where one trumps the other is in price though. I said that you an build comparable systems for the same price, but if you are doing 3d rendering/HD video editing where more cores are better, AMD takes the edge as you can get a cheap hex core CPU, where as with Intel your only consumer option really is a 980, which will put you at $1000 just for your processor.
For everyone with their every day needs though, neither one is better than the other. That may sort of change next year when the AMD Bulldozer chips come out if they live up to expectations, as they seem very very promising at the moment. Where that falls down though is what I previously mentioned; both will perform any task. Even when the bulldozer chips come out, your Phenom II and i5/i7 CPUs will still be doing everything at good speeds below the price of the bulldozer chips.
When the Bulldozer chips come out though, the price of Phenom II CPUs will drop and that may be what pushes AMD to be the best option, as the price/Performance ratio will be much better.
The "Intel vs AMD" debate is generally only taken seriously by fanboys who are certain that their beloved Intel is better than AMD for this, that and other reason, or AMD better than Intel
