From what I've seen and read about it the high end version will beat the i7-950 by 50%, Sandy Bridge beats it by about 30%~ so it looks like it going to be good
I find AMD are normally a little more conservative about their propaganda than Intel so I'm eager to see what the final product is going to be. I've always liked their CPU's if not only for the value for money.
I respect that Intel have done a bloody good job with 90% of their chips, but sometimes making the champ sweat a little can provide a better fight.