Worth the switch to Intel?

Solution
The really big advantages in going with Intel over AMD are:

1) TDP. Most of the AMD higher performing chips are 120+ watts TDP. Intel i5's usually run about 85-90w. That's not an insignificant difference.
2) Peformance. Intel's i5 chips are fast - in most average workloads as fast if not faster than the 8-core AMDs.

Where AMD wins out is usually in price. You get a whole lot of bang for your buck. As to when to upgrade? That's a very tough question and depends on a lot of things.

AMD's new Zen processors are slated to come out in about a year assuming everything goes to schedule. Rumor is they're going to be good - the expected feature list is - DDR4, 14nm, FINFET, SMT (aka hyperthreading), Desktop class CPU (not APU) first...
Are you having performance issues with your current setup? If not i'd try to wait till next gen CPUs come out. Switching to an i5 4590 over a FX 8350 will only be slightly faster in gaming (10-15% ish depending on game) - Not worth the $300-$350 cost imo.
 
I'd go ahead and just upgrade your Mobo if you're looking for a short-term/ lower cost boost to your game FPS. You'd be looking at a "K" edition Intel CPU for overclocking (like the i5-4690K), and that plus a good h97 will run you closer to $400.

Also, with the new Skylake Intel CPU's starting to come out you'll probably be able to get a better deal on some of the Intel Haswell CPU's in a little while.

MarkW is right, however, you will notice a huge increase in FPS once you upgrade to an overclocked Intel setup.
 
The really big advantages in going with Intel over AMD are:

1) TDP. Most of the AMD higher performing chips are 120+ watts TDP. Intel i5's usually run about 85-90w. That's not an insignificant difference.
2) Peformance. Intel's i5 chips are fast - in most average workloads as fast if not faster than the 8-core AMDs.

Where AMD wins out is usually in price. You get a whole lot of bang for your buck. As to when to upgrade? That's a very tough question and depends on a lot of things.

AMD's new Zen processors are slated to come out in about a year assuming everything goes to schedule. Rumor is they're going to be good - the expected feature list is - DDR4, 14nm, FINFET, SMT (aka hyperthreading), Desktop class CPU (not APU) first out the door. If AMD continues their push for the cost-concious buyer - they'll probably be relatively affordable. With all the changes, I'm willing to bet that their TDP will come way down, performance will go way up. In other words, they might actually be competing with Intel instead of subsisting off scraps.

Intel's Kaby Lake CPU comes out in late 2016 as well. It will be a 'skylake refresh', socket 1151 compatible chip. The pricing on DDR4 will continue to fall, socket 1151 boards will come down in price as well. The Kaby Lake CPUs however will still be relatively pricy.

However, that's always the case and the edge of the sword you balance on when talking about the bleeding edge of tech. If you prefer AMD, I would wait for Zen if your hardware is still functional and holding up ok. You've got enough gaming power on tap for most anything, unless you're having hardware issues and need to upgrade now.

If you're in that position, then jump on an ()97 board and Haswell CPU. You have the DDR3 RAM for it already and your investment would be a few hundred bucks (about $250 depending on the i5/board choices) and you'll get a very solid processor that will be good for several years. It's not like Haswell i5's are slugs because they're 1-2 generations back (counting Broadwell and Skylake), they're very quick and run strong and cool.

tldr; if your hardware is ok, wait for Zen. If you need hardware now, go Intel.
 
Solution
dont forget about AMD's big performance boost with DX12 😉 and i agree about waiting for the new CPUs from both companies

and before ppl get snarky about this statement because the benchs are so early, the 3 benchs that i have seen all say the same thing
 
Well, the DX12 benches are more for AMD vs nVidia, he was asking more directly about AMD vs Intel... :)

Unfortunately, AMD's issues from a CPU perspective aren't going to be solved by DX12... Hence why they need to make sure they execute, and execute WELL on the Zen release. I'm actually somewhat excited to see what they can do even though I've gone to the blue side with most of my CPU choices as of late (although I'm still rocking a nice dual CPU Opteron based server in my basement at the moment).

Haswell i5-4670k desktop, Asus 2u Xeon X3450 support server, dual Opteron main server, Pentium G3220 based media server (replaced aging Phenom II setup and saved 120+ watts continuous load), Intel J1900 HTPC, Asus UX31 laptop.

Hate to say it, Intel makes some damn efficient CPUs.
 


i'm pretty sure the main improvement of DX12 is the throughput and efficiency of the draw calls sent to the GPU by the CPU, so its really AMD vs Intel. correct me if im wrong though
 
Going the intel route will definately benefit you in the long term because of the IPC and Power efficiency improvements over the AMD but just keep in mind to buy a "K" series intel CPU as they are overclockable and will give you some more headroom in the future if you wish to overclock.

My recommendation would be to save up some more money and by a decent Z97 board and a i5-6600k since you're moving to a new platform.If you dont want to go the skylake route and save some more money a Z87 board with a 4690k would also be perfectly good.
 
You probably meant a Z170 board since the i5-6600k is socket 1151, not 1150.