*Charges in the AMD fanboy that's been gone from these forums for god knows how long!*
WoW . . . . . how the hell do I summerize these idea's flying around in my head . . . here we go -
AMD -
For the past three years AMD has had 3 different socket's. In reality, it's only had two. The AM2 Socket replaced the 940 Socket in 2006. Since AM2 CPU's work on AM2+ socket's and Vice Versa, you can use processors of either socket and have them work either way.
Now, the AM3 Socket is where Magic really happens. AM3 CPU's can work in AM2+ Mother boards using DDR2, or work in AM3 Motherboards and use DDR3. This makes upgrading easy as hell if you have a AM2+ Mobo and are tight on money. Now that AMD has a DDR3 Socket, I have a feeling that it's going to stick around for a while. In the future, it could even faze out the MC on the AM3 CPU's to only use DDR3 and get rid of the AM2+ compatibility altogether.
Intel -
The Socket B (Or Socket 1366) is a seven month old Socket(Came out in November 2008). Probably by Q3 of this year, it will be completely fazed out. What I think some people here are seeing is that Intel is replacing a good line-up of CPU's with 'better' ones for more money. Then the Hexta-cores shoot up the prices like they WILL. The Six-core CPU's will go on either a LGA 1355 or a LGA 1356 socket, while the i5's will go on the one the 6-cores don't. Personally, AMD has the right Idea about keeping Hexta core CPU's in the server market.
Anyway, I just have to say AMD has the better product. They listen to customers more than Intel (Haha, Intel listens to its customers) and just put out a better product. The only thing AMD doesn't have is the millions to pour on catchy and stupid Advertisements. And, Even though AMD has the lower end of the market(Though it's not that low), they don't resort to "Unfair Business Practices in Europe".
And is anyone paying attention to these benchmarks we see on Sites like Anandtech? The difference between some of these CPU's are mere seconds or 3-5 FPS! And I still find it quite funny the i7's are so popular and yet their gaming performance is . . . competitive with AMD's line-up.