Core i5 ballpark for gaming would be enough IMO. I think that most people who want an all-round high performing chip are gamers, and unfortunately AMD loses significantly in many games. If we ever get to where AMD wins in some games, that would be a turning point. AMD is competitive and sometimes better than a Core i5 in multithreaded benchmarks because of its high core count, so I think that just bringing in gaming in line could make enthusiasts take a second look at AMD CPU's.

UPDATE:

LOL, well, it turns out this thread was all for naught (at least as far as original intentions goes, it wasn't really all for naught as I learned a lot. Again.).

Let me explain.

He stopped by yesterday, and we went to various sites "shopping" and apparently he had been watching youtubes at home also and had, by yesterday, developed some personal "wants" for his computer. So we went shopping and he selected (haven't purchased anything yet) all the pieces (except PSU, OS, Monitor, Keyboard, and Mouse) and it was $1,000. LOL. Not. Even. Close.

I told him I was sorry but I couldn't do that, but apparently he had an ace up his sleeve the whole time. He talked his mother (my sister) and grandmother (my mother) into contributing another $500 and, well, I guess that's how young un's roll today. LOL.

I would still bet I could've built a system for $500 that would run Skyrim on ultra. Even had we gone with AMD I bet it would still run Skyrim on ultra, maybe just not quite the same frame rates as Intel. But I feel like it was possible to do this for $500 given I already had THREE major (and sometimes costly) items sitting around already (Windows 7 Home Edition, Cooler Master PSU, and a 27" LCD monitor).

I also had received a pair of Razor Magladoon (spelling?) headphones about a year or so ago as a gift (my family always does this, thus why I try to give back lol) and I used those when all I had to use was my laptop, but when I built my new desktop and then rebuilt the one that UPS trashed, I had two desktops that both had surround sound speaker systems so I didn't really need those headphones anymore, so I gave him those too. They are 7.1 surround sound, and should meet his speaker needs. He tried them yesterday here and was blown away. I can attest to the fact they are the real deal. You can here the sounds literally all around you, and just like my speakers, you can here enemies behind you or to either side. So he should be good to go.

Also, too, I've decided I'm not going to build it for him. I'm going to have him build it with my supervision. He's going to be junior (or is it senior???) this year in High School and he's at the age where he should learn about this fascinating machines, and his desire to learn is off the charts, which is good.

Anyways, thought I'd give this update and just say once again THANK YOU for all of the good info in this thread.

Oh, and today he mowed my yard for me for the first time of what he promises will be many. That's going to be nice as the summer wears on. lol