I'd be sure to go intel. AMD just has too many "work arounds" trying to be like intel. I'd rather go with the original.

DVD burners will burn CD-R/W's just fine. Life span.... I've never seen a burner of any kind die from burning too much.

I have 2 friends that have burned well over 2k (yes, 2,000) cd's on the same burner and never had a coaster cause of the burner.