I think a 560ti plus an AMD Phenom II X4 955 would be better for gaming than a 5850 plus Intel 760..sure my cpu may be a little slower for certain things but I don't do any CPU intensive tasks besides extracting files lol
it really depends on the games you're playing. my friend was asking me about helping him build a new desktop to play wow, so i looked up the latest wow expansion, cataclysm, and apparently there's something of a cap on how fast the game runs on amd processors, no matter which one you look at.
of course, this could be an isolated situation that could be fixed with an update, i really don't know as i haven't looked much into the specifics of how games run on intel's latest vs amd's latest. however, i currently have a phenom ii x4 at 3.2ghz and it's plenty fast for me, and i haven't used intel in a desktop the p4 days...
if i were to go for a new build, i'd wait for sandy bridge to be re-released and/or bulldozer, possibly ivy bridge...but if i had to buy *now* i personally wouldn't sink money into a phenom ii chip unless i got a really (really) good deal on it; core i5 750/760 seems the best choice to me, unless i wanted to go cheap, in which case i'd try to nab a quad core amd chip for ~$100. but i wouldn't pay full price for a phenom ii x4.
as far as 560 ti vs 5850, i can't really say for sure, all i know is that THG's graphics hierarchy chart has both cards listed on the same level, which means they should be quite close to each other on average. i've been using ati cards for awhile and i, personally, haven't had any problems with them...however i wouldn't explicitly not buy nvidia. buuut, considering that the 560 ti seems to be going for $250 and the 5850 can be had for ~$180 after rebate ($200 before), i wouldn't spend the extra money on the 560.
but that's me. it's your money, buy what you want. what i don't understand is, if you're so set on these things already, then why did you even bother posting this thread?
EDIT: the reason boomerd is 'harassing' you is because your opinions on amd vs intel cpus are going against the consensus that the majority holds, and that, even though you know this, continue to profess it, and are unflinching in your belief, you posted this thread asking for opinions on a build with an amd chip, knowing that people would ultimately suggest an intel chip instead, with no other recourse than debate on the issue!
it's not because he disagrees with you, it's because you're bating a (very tired) argument. granted he's being a *tad* harsh about it, you know exactly what you're doing.
but ultimately, i think you both need to back down and stop acting like children.
