You can get a good quad core AMD factory clocked at 4.2 ghz for 120 dollars. Intel cpu's hover around 300. Unless you absolutely MUST have max fps @ 1080P resolutions, are doing a lot of number crunching (prime 95) or video editing, the AMD will do quite nicely.

Even for gaming, as long as the fps stays around 40-60 the game shouldn't be choppy. As a reference, movies at movie theaters play at around 24 fps. When was the last time you heard someone complain that the movie was laggy ~_~