I have used amd for about 7 years going from k6's thru athlons and now onto amd64, have had no problems so I say go AMD, I would never have an intel again as AMD offer more bang per buck. I have built about 10-12 systems in that time but have always used branded components. I think cheap main boards and memory give reliability problems as I have never skimped on components and believe this is what gives most problems