While I don't doubt that they won't beat Sandy Bridge, it's going to be games where it matters most (for me). Just like when I had built my FX-55 and 6800 Ultra rig. While Intel's line could beat AMD's all around, AMD has the best cost/performance ratio for gamers. I don't need to encode videos at blazing speeds since I rarely did, and non existent now a days, but got awesome performance in my games.
Haven't had a rig in quite a few years, my PS3 and laptop get me where I need to go now a days. But, have been wanting to get back in the game, and think I will have the money in about a year or so and looks like I will be building another AMD/nVidia system in the near future