Intel offers you better performance. However, that does not mean AMD "sucks" so you really can't go wrong with neither.

Yes you should get that i5 cpu.

I second starting from this.

AMD is still using 32nm and intel is on 22nm, because of that intel gets you better power consumption, less heat and better performance overall.

The first and most essential part of building any PC is picking out a proper CPU. For gaming, a 3.0 GHz processor is the recommended minimum. I would get a quad-core simply because in another few years dual-cores will be obsolete if they aren't already. The next general step is picking a compatible motherboard. You have to figure out the socket type of your CPU and choose a motherboard with the same socket type. For instance, an AMD A3+ motherboard will not work with an Intel i5 processor.

The last main thing is picking a good video-card. You don't want to go too cheap on the video-card because that will bottle-neck the CPU. Typically, however much you spend on a CPU should be roughly how much you spend on a graphics card. After those three items are purchased, the only other "essentials" are some RAM, power supply unit (PSU), and hard drive. A case actually is not necessary but it does make life much much easier. Some sort of disk drive would also be helpful, but not necessary. I am assuming you currently have a monitor and keyboard, if not those will be needed (obviously).

This also helps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw there are three parts so you should probably watch them all. Hope that helped some.

In reality AMD does not have an equivalent CPU. Especially if you are building a gaming rig.

The AMD "equivalent" is the latest FX 8350...which trades blows with the i5 in heavily threaded applications, completely gets destroyed by the i5 in single threaded apps, can at times come close to the i5 in some games, and sometimes trails quite far behind.

My biggest gripe with the FX 8350 is that at times it can bottle neck your GPU, which is the biggest flaw, for me, from a gaming perspective.

Considering the prices are the same, its a no brainer to stay with the i5 if that is your price range. Best price to performance imo.

thats the cpu I have  it being a K is unlocked and is damn fine .