Here is an very interesting analysis of cpu and gaming. It really (and I say unfortunately for the sake of competition) exposes the gap between intel and AMD at the moment. I guess bulldozer was not the chipset that AMD thought it would be for the budget market.
http://techreport.com/review/23246/inside-the-second-gaming-performance-with-today-cpus
Interesting that the X4 980 beats out the new Bulldozer cpus from AMD....but Intel is clearly top of the heap.