Which One is Better?

[y4na]

AMD

or

Intel

[slaveofconvention]

Depends on your definition of better really lol

The AMD has the higher stock raw Mhz advantage but with a heavy heat disadvantage - generally speaking that means it'll be less overclockable but thats not a 100% black and white situation because of the different possible cooling solutions around. i5 is brand new so you're probably paying a premium for early-adopter tax. Personally, I'd think the AMD would run faster if left stock. At the same time, the AMD is on a fairly old socket architecture now - AM3 is just a step up from AM2 - and there's no knowing if and when AMD will move to another socket - i5 is brand new so if you're considering upgrading in the future, there's PROBABLY a better chance you'll be able to get a substantial upgrade on the i5 than the AM3.

If it was my money, today, I'd get the AMD out of those two options.

Having said that, if I had a free choice and that budget, I'd probably go for this...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16819115041
They're apparently awesome overclockers and the motherboard would be a lot cheaper than the i5 board is likely to be which would easily pay you back the $10 extra the CPU is costing - you'd also have a MUCH wider range of options when it came to things like aftermarket coolers etc. You get the benefit of a well established line - no new stuff bugs to worry about too...

[y4na]

Depends on your definition of better really lol

The AMD has the higher stock raw Mhz advantage but with a heavy heat disadvantage - generally speaking that means it'll be less overclockable but thats not a 100% black and white situation because of the different possible cooling solutions around. i5 is brand new so you're probably paying a premium for early-adopter tax. Personally, I'd think the AMD would run faster if left stock. At the same time, the AMD is on a fairly old socket architecture now - AM3 is just a step up from AM2 - and there's no knowing if and when AMD will move to another socket - i5 is brand new so if you're considering upgrading in the future, there's PROBABLY a better chance you'll be able to get a substantial upgrade on the i5 than the AM3.

If it was my money, today, I'd get the AMD out of those two options.

Having said that, if I had a free choice and that budget, I'd probably go for this...
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16819115041
They're apparently awesome overclockers and the motherboard would be a lot cheaper than the i5 board is likely to be which would easily pay you back the $10 extra the CPU is costing - you'd also have a MUCH wider range of options when it came to things like aftermarket coolers etc. You get the benefit of a well established line - no new stuff bugs to worry about too...

Do you know what motherboard I should get?

[x88x]

I would say they're probably about equal in performance.
The Phenom II will be a bit cheaper because the cost of the MBBs have gone down over their lifetime, but I don't know what AMDs future CPU socket plans are.
The i5 will be a bit more expensive because it's new, but from a quick check on NewEgg.ca, it looks like it is only by about $50. The benefit of the i5 is that later upgrades will be cheaper (ie, fewer parts necessary to upgrade any given part), assuming that Intel sticks with the 1156 socket. Personally I wouldn't worry about the i5 line being new; it's basically the i7 line without hyperthreading.
The 9550 will be a bit cheaper for the same reasons as the Phenom II, but you'll be stuck with the LGA 775 socket MBB, so when you want to upgrade your CPU, you'll also have to upgrade the MBB.

Personally I would go with the i5, for future compatibility.