 One of the areas that affect the price of processors is performance. Back when AMD was simply cloning Intel processors there really wasn't much difference between the two brands in performance. Then AMD decided to branch out on its own and make its own processor.
Workstation performance for both processors is very good, with the Atholon in the lead. Intel's latest offering (Pentium 4 - Extreme Edition) is very competitive but can't quite keep up. Also, you can only get 64-bit desktops with an AMD processor. Intel has yet to produce one, but they may as demand increases.
The server market is a little more difficult to interpret. Both companies offer excellent server products. And, it appears that AMD is in the lead for servers, too. Current reviews show that AMD's latest server offerings (Opteron/AthlonFX) are outdoing Intel's (Itanium/Xeon).
In the 32-bit world we have the Xeon from Intel and the Opteron from AMD. Both are solid performers. Opteron processors don't run as fast as the Xeon processors in clock speeds, but they manage to outperform them - from Web and database servers to file servers. Intel does have an advantage in the rendering arena, but that is a very small market compared to the Web and database markets.
Scalibility is an important factor for long-term processor value. The latest AMD processors are more scalable because they offer both 32-bit and 64-bit computing on the same chip. With Intel you must change to a different processor. Also, the AMD processors scale better as more and more processors are added to the system. This amounts to a greater return on investment with AMD's processors.
With AMD's processors, 32-bit and 64-bit software can be run simultaneously on the same hardware - thus allowing you to buy the hardware today and use it for tomorrow's software. Intel's processors are incapable of running both 32-bit and 64-bit software on the same processor. To upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit requires all new hardware.
Both companies' processors support today's software well. AMD has an advantage when the processor is under a heavy load, or doing a lot of intense memory computing. Intel has an advantage when doing video rendering.
AMD is implementing a new security technique that makes sure that software is behaving how it should. Their processors will automatically check for what's called a buffer overflow. A buffer overflow occurs when a program pushes itself beyond it's limits in the memory of the computer, allowing code to be executed inside system memory space. Many computer vulnerabilities happen this way. The AMD processor won't allow execution of code from a program which does not own the memory space allocated to it, thus preventing buffer overflow attacks. The Intel processor has no such deterrent in it.
Overall, AMD processors are still the best value. They have better scalability, lower cost, the best bang-for-the-buck, and overall better performance than Intel processors.
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AMD vs. Intel: Which Processor is Right For You?