I used to be an AMD fanboy until a couple years ago. Their price to performance ratio used to be fantastic, but now it is only meh. I rebuilt my box around an i-5 and a Z75 chipset mobo and it smokes anything AMD can put out in that range. Truly, the ivy bridge i-5's are the best chip for gaming out there right now. And with the right mobo you can unlock even the non-k chips.
With the 27" full HD monitor and SSD I have about $1200 invested. And it runs every game I play on ultra, Skyrim included.
It's not about the parts, but how they work together. Here's my setup:
Intel i-5 3470
Asrock Z75 pro 3
8 GB (2X4) GSkill Ripjaws DDR3 1600
Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Zalman Z5 case
Corsair CX 750 PSU
Crucial M500 240 GB SSD
WD Blue 500 GB HD
2X LG DVDRW drives
AOC 27" full HD monitor
Windows 8.1
Runs everything I need it to and then some. The only problem is the crappy driver set for the graphics card. My next upgrade is to swap out the AMD/ATI for an Nvidia, probably early next year.