OP,
This is what it boils down to as far as Intel vs AMDD:
Intel is a faster processor however the lower end cpus do NOT allow overclocking and the integrated graphics are not very good.
AMD APUs have the best integrated graphics and allow mild to moderate overclocking depending upon which one you get. Also you can get a true quad core for around $100 give or take a few bucks.
You could buy a lower end Intel and when your budget allows at some future date you could upgrade to a 2500K if you go with Intel. Deal with having a dual core and so-so IG tryng to encode video.
Intel chips can do a lot of tasks quicker than AMD but what is important to you now. But there are some tasks that AMD does just as quickly if not a little faster. This is all according to the benchmarks.
With AMD, you have two different routes as I mentioned before. If you go with LLano with IG you have some choices, the high end is a A8-3870K ($145) which is a 3.0 GHz unlocked Quad Core with an unlocked IG that is equalivant to a 6550 mobile graphics according to the specs. With a A75 FM1 motherboard ($55-125), you can run a 6600 series in crossfire mode with the APU which gives the whole set up more graphics power. Also if you have a m/b wotj a display port, you can run 3 displays at the same time.
There are some people in the forum who are currently testing out the overclocking abilities of this apu.
Second option is to purchase the Athlon II 631 2.7 GHz Quad for $84.95, but then not only would you need a A75 FM1 m/b and ram, you would need to get a video card. You could get a low end video card for now so you can record movies and stuff and do some casual gaming. Once the budget allows you can get a higher end video card for more serious gaming. Not sure of the overclocking abilities of this CPU.
Third option is you could get a AMD 960T 3.0 GHz Quad ($125) with a AMD3+ motherboard with IG ($45-150), the highest end of this is equalivant to a 4290 graphics. But you can't crossfire, that takes two separate video cards to do. If you go this route, you should be able to pop in the next generation of cpus from AMD. Like Trinity. Also the overclocking abilities of this cpu are well known. And possibly you maybe able to unlock two more cores going from a quad to a hex core cpu, but it is like the lottery sometimes you win sometimes you lose. If at a later date you can buy a video card with display port, hdmi, and dvi and be able to hook 3 displays at once.
It is all a matter of where you want to spend your money and what you are willing to sacriface at your current budget.
Do you want medicore graphics and video encoding abilities now and when your budget allows spend additional money to get a better cpu to improve things?
Or you can purchase a combo that will do everything you need it to do right off the bat albeit at a slower pace for some tasks and for others just as quickly if not quicker.
It will serve a multimedia purpose (movies, music, some gaming)
If you want your computer more as a multimedia system than AMD will be your best choice. If you are more interested in high end gaming than Intel will be your best choice.
Just remember the low end Intel cpus do not overclock and they are only dual cores, fast dual cores.
If you want to do tasks that require multithreading like video encoding, audio encoding, and running multiple programs at once then a quad core is the best bang for your buck. Remember just about any 6000 series video card can handle bluray and video tasks, it is the cpu that will control how smoothly the video encoding will run. But for high end gaming you need a high end video card to handle the workload. For now there are not many games that take advantage of 4 or more cpu cores.
Unfortunately there are not very many reviews about AMD right now, the focus of most reviews have been on Intel.
I hope this info helps.