AMD and ATI versus Intel and nvidia

Here's my dilemma...

For many years, I've always been an Intel and nvidia fan.  They're known for their performance, reliability, and stability.  They tend to run cooler than their AMD/ATI counterparts, and nvidia's Geforce software tend to cause fewer issues than ATI's Catalyst software.  Intel's chipsets and processors tend to have fewer compatibility issues with memory, operating systems, etc. than AMD's do.  However, I'm in the market for upgrading my computer, and debating what I should buy.  Unfortunately, after doing much research on http://www.newegg.com/, I'm trying "to get the most bang for my buck."  So I don't have to repeat myself, please read my original post on  AMD forums at...

http://forums.amd.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=14&threadid=146163&enterthread=y

Keeping my original post above in mind, an Intel CPU with an nvidia video card comparable in price are:

CPU:

Intel Core i3-540 Clarkdale 3.06GHz 4MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3540

MOBO:

ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

RAM (same as in my original post above):

Patriot Gamer 2 Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model PGD38G1600ELK

VIDEO CARD:

EVGA 01G-P3-1145-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card 

The total of these above parts, which are about $500 total without shipping/handling and rebates, are about $40 more than the comparable AMD/ATI parts in my AMD forums post.  I found this article that discusses these two chips among several others they benchmarked and tested against each other at...

http://www.hardcoreware.net/amd-vs-intel-100-150-dollar-cpu/

So, according to this article, dollar-for-dollar, it appears the AMD outperforms Intel chips on most benchmark tests, and they're generally less expensive.  So, should I go for the AMD quad-core processor versus the Intel dual-core precessor?  Can anyone give me any good reasons to stick with Intel versus AMD?  I'm all ears, because I'm slowly finding myself swaying towards buying AMD/ATI!  And please stay away from vague expressions such as, "you get what you pay for."  If I didn't know this, then I wouldn't have needed to post this in the first place!  ;-)