I'm guessing hitch, you never actually compared the Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme processor to an AMD processor for "less than 300 bucks"?
I, too, was an AMD fan boy before this topic, and not to just jump on the gang wagon, I always knew Intel's Core 2 Extreme chip was practically the best out there, and yes the price is a bit high, but the thing is.. People are buying that processor, so Intel doesn't exactly need to drop the price *yet*.
If you read through this topic, you will be a mini me, I was an AMD fanboy and now I'm sided over to Intel.
Also, let me inform you that before I tweaked my cpu build, I costed about $1500. Then I switched out the motherboard and the processor. I went from some ASUS motherboard (forgot which one) and an AMD Athlon 64 x2 2.4GHz 4800+ becaues newegg removed it from the site on me and I was forced to switch, glad that happened.
Basically, Intel won on this one, and because your an AMD fanboy you don't want to admit it, thats why you say "but when I see a 1000+ price tag on a processor when I could get a screamin' fast one for less than 300 by AMD, who am I gonna pick?".
I am sure you haven't taken personal benchmarks, have you even looked at ones on the internet? Look through this topic, you'll find a link to benchmarks.