Consider your primary use case. For gaming, AMD tends to be the more popular choice because it offers (most of the time) more bang for the buck.

If you want to try your hand at hackintoshing, Intel is your easiest option. It's not a garbage platform either.

Not ripping open the static bags and handling each component myself would be akin to going on a big game hunt and hiring a skilled hunter to shoot the animal so you can pose with it. Based on your question I think you're in my boat more than the other person's.

There's a number of configurators online where you can painstakingly choose each component and make sure they work well together.

It can be very rewarding. My daily driver has been a homebuilt PC, built by me, for many years. 10/10 would recommend.