Need some help.

Just add a video card... gtx 560 ti, gtx 560, 6870

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-16010561-Antec_Three_Hundre... $59.99 inc. GST
Antec Three Hundred Tower Gaming Case

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-34040663-Antec_520W_High_Cu... $85.00 inc. GST
Antec 520W High Current Gamer Power Supply - 80Plus Bronze

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-28023477-MSI_P67A_C43_B3_Mo...(OC)_Intel_P67(B3)_Chipset_4x_ $105.20 inc. GST
MSI P67A-C43 B3 Motherboard

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-19010218-Intel_Core_i5_2500... $219.99 inc. GST
Intel Core i5 2500K

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-37140683-Corsair_4GB_Single...(1333MHz)_CL_9_9_9_24_240_pin_DI $35.00 inc. GST
Corsair 4GB Single Module Memory - DDR3 - PC3-10600 (1333MHz) - CL 9-9-9-24 - 240-pin DIMM (CMV4GX3M1A1333C9)

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-22040155-SAMSUNG_Spinpoint_... $59.00 inc. GST
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-17040381-Samsung_SH_222AB_B... $22.00 inc. GST
Samsung SH-222AB/BEBS Internal 22x DVD Burner - SATA - OEM - Black

Total: $586.18 inc. GST


http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-39090362-Microsoft_Windows_...(GFC_02050) $105.00 inc. GST
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium - SP1 - 64-Bit - DVD - Single Pack - OEM (GFC-02050)

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-42060694-Sapphire_Radeon_HD... $195.00 inc. GST
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 Video Card - GDDR5 1024MB 256Bit VRAM - 900 / 4200MHz Clock - PCIe 2.1 - DVI, HDMI & Display Port - CrossFireX Ready - DirectX 11 & OpenGL 3.2 (11179-09-41G)

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-42051044-MSI_GeForce_GTX_56... $210.60 inc. GST
MSI GeForce GTX 560 Twin Frozr II Video Card - GDDR5 1024MB 256Bit VRAM - 810 / 4000MHz Clock - PCIe 2.0 - Dual-Link DVI & Mini HDMI - PhysX & SLI Ready - DirectX 11 & OpenGL 4.1 (N560GTX TWIN FROZR II)

Neither one really shines though as being great.

Phenom II:
The PSU on the phenom II is crappy, otherwise it seems like a reasonable build.
Although the HDD is missing brands and stuff so can't really tell much about it.

i7 build:
The i7 build, well there is no mention of what manufacturer the PSU is from.
I'm actually quite concerned that the PSU is even worse in this build than it is in the phenom II build.

The case seems passable, but is nothing fancy.
You would need to add the $40 for a P67 mobo, since would be silly getting a i7 2600k without a mobo to overclock it with.
Also 1600Mhz memory would be a sweet spot performance wise.
Then as you pointed out you would have to spend $180-260 for the graphics card.
560Ti would be very nice for you.

Conclusion:
The i7 would be more powerful. That's for sure.

In both cases you probably need to add the $100 for the OS to get win7 home premium 64-bit.

If those places are close by, they would probably let you pick custom parts for a system and then put it together.
Both have their ups and downs, but neither really shines through as being overly good.
Switching the PSU to something a little better from Antec, Corsair, Silverstone, Seasonic or XFX the AMD build would win just because more is told about what's in it.

If they are willing to do a custom build and the costs are not massive, i can list what you should look for.

CPU: i5 2400(non-oc) or i5 2500k(oc)
MB: Asrock, Asus, Gigabyte and MSI
- if you want to Crossfire or SLI in the future one with at least 2 16x PCIe connectors running at 8x minium. P67/Z68 based boards
- if you want to overclock P67/Z68 based boards - and you will need an after market HSF for the CPU
- if you don't intend to overclock or crossfire or SLI H67 based boards will do
Mem: 2x4GB of 1.5V 1333Mhz mem for H67 boards, 2x4GB of 1.5V 1600Mhz mem for P67/Z68 based boards
Corsair, Gskill, Kingston and Mushkin generally for brands but others will do
GPU: brands don't mean too much: 6850/6870/6950 from AMD for gaming in a reasonable price range, GTX460 1GB/560/560Ti from Nvidia
Case: something with decent airflow and space for graphics cards. Such as Antec 300. The one in the phenom build didn't look bad either.
PSU: depending on if you want to SLI/Crossfire and which graphics card you chose
~500-550W for single cards.
650W for dual 6850
750W for the other dual card solutions.
From Antec, Corsair, Silverstone, Seasonic or XFX.
HDD: 1TB 7200rpm SATAII HDD will do fine. Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB would be the best.
DVD: pretty much any 24x DVD burner will do from Asus, Lite-On, Sony, Samsung etc.

And windows 7 home premium 64-bit for OS

You should be able to get the above computer without the OS from about $900 and up depending on the selections.
Then i'm sure they will slap you with some surchage for putting it together.

The builds that previous posters listed are great, but if you are set on going the prebuilt route, the 2600k + video card would stomp the Phenom and for a lot less. Not to push the subject unnecessarily, but do you have reservations about building your own system?

hmm well if anyone would like to suggest a build for me these are the places i shop at.

http://www.gamedude.com.au/'

http://www.umart.com.au/ (select the 3rd location which is closer to me)

probly under $1600 would be good, i want a really fast computer but aswell with excellent graphics and a nice looking case  

is it possible to get a cheaper case then pop the cou up to a i7?
im not sure which motherboard can go with which cpu


i like this case http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_review.phtml?id=10...

That case is great, I'm not sure if it would fit a 6950 (probably would, but don't blame me if it doesn't ) but I know this one would for sure:
http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=1...
It is ten dollars more, though.

Yes the antec 900 would fit the stuff fine to fit i7 2600k into the budget.

However you won't get much if any benefit from the i7 2600k over the i5 2500k for gaming.

Best answer selected by rickstar.