Re: @Joerg
> sick and tired of the Intel/AMD duopoly
It's hardly like unilever-proctor&gamble where they don't want to compete. Intel went for high performance low-core-count/high price; AMD went for more cores and lower prices. These are almost different markets. That makes it difficult for AMD to compete on marketing to end-users so they concentrate on the embedded market.
Gamers generally need a couple of fast cores but like to brag about their systems. Intel wants to sell to them regardless of their usage because they are less price-sensitive. Sensible IT type running VMs at home would go for the 8-core AMD chip and save a bundle if buying new.
I don't see memory as an issue - I've got 32G in my host which is half the maximum for my mobo. I got it for running VMs - most people can probably get by with 16G for years to come. I've got an "old" 3930k which has far more oomph than is needed. I got it for $300 which was enough to tempt me from my E7500 and as a desktop I expect it to last for at least six more years. My main "concern" is power consumption. Intel's done quite a bit to improve that but tiny incremental improvements dressed up as "generations" annoy me and don't warrant the expense of an upgrade. If anything, performance has mostly regressed since the 3930's were new.
Sure, I'd like to see some ARM or MIPS machines out there. I'd be happy with an ARM file-server, browsing and email host (built into a screen?). However, I've noticed that Word will consume as much of a single core as you can throw at it, which is a bit rubbish, but hardly Intel's fault. I'd like to see AMD challange Intel on the single-core speed front because I think the lack of competition is a problem but I suspect AMD's fabrication tech just can't match them.
Part of the problem is that general move to laptops. There's little chance of customisation and movement in the market with locked-down machines. At least in the past we had PCMCIA interfaces to add new functionality - now there's no chance of neatly adding functions to a laptop - you're reduced to ugly dongles and external devices.