You do see a *massive* difference in performance with PCI-E 3.0 x16 in compute scenarios. Think: Folding@Home.
It was one of the many reasons I upgraded from an AMD FX to my Socket 2011 3930K.
As for AMD and backwards compatibility... More often than not it is true.
However, if AMD pulls another AM3+ move you will have to buy a new motherboard for Steamroller, no way around that, never buy into a platform thinking you can endlessly upgrade it. :P
Now onto the Intel vs AMD.
If he is playing games like StarCraft 2, Sins of a Solar Empire or any lightly threaded demanding game, go Intel, even a dual-core, as Intel will dominate in those games.
If he is playing games like GTAIV, Battlefield 3, Civilisation IV, go AMD.
If you are bent on going AMD, then the FX 8320 is a wise choice, they will overclock to around 4.2-4.4ghz on stock voltage, some chips higher. But keep in mind you still need a 500mhz core clock advantage just to match a Phenom 2 in single threaded situations.
Heck, if you are going to be overclocking anyway you could also consider the FX 8120 and overclock that, hence saving some money to put towards a beefier GPU for overall better gaming performance.
Today though, because hardware is so far ahead of games and software, either platform will be fine.
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