I don't think Intel was afraid, seems more like AMD was with how fast they pushed the Phenom out. There's even a nice "feature" of the cpu that makes your computer unstable. They pushed it out too fast and that little bug slipped past the QA team. The bug is only present on the B2 stepping Phenoms. This is the first time in my 10+ years of experience with computers that I've ever heard of a cpu released with a bug that makes your computer unstable. You can read about that here:
http://www.cpu3d.com/content/view/3648/55/
Sorry if I came off as attacking your AMD processor before when I said to get rid of it. I have nothing against AMD, I used to have an Athlon 64 before my Core 2 Duo. I'm not loyal to any brand, whatever gives me the best framerate in games is what I'm gonna buy. At the time when I upgraded my computer Intel was that brand, and still is. The Intel processors may cost a bit more but they will give you a better framerate in most games.
Oh, and why do you even make the argument about AMD processors being cheap? Obviously you've got tons of money, 2x 8800 Ultras, 3x 22" inch monitors, and those FX processors were never really that cheap.
But yeah... if you wanna get the best possible framerate in games, go Intel and go back to Windows XP. Atleast pick up the Athlon X2 6400+ black edition if you're gonna be a die hard AMD fanboy.