Are you only gonna be gaming? the AMD option is better for gaming since you get a 7970. i7 is like a hyperthreaded i5 which you don't really need for gaming. you are better off the i5 if you want an intel build.
The I7 wouldn't make as much of a difference, especially when the AMD build has a much better GPU. The RAM is much better being a fast 8gb duel kit, as 16 gb will not be needed in any game any time soon. The AMD build is much more cost efficient but that all depends whether you are thinking of doing much else. The only place where the AMD might win the I7 in a desktop enviroment is compiling code, as it has much more core-age than the I7, but there are probably benchmarks that disprove that too.
Go with the AMD and 7970 with some 8gb 1866-2400 RAM and whatever storage you wish if you want to be cost efficient and beat all of your friends frames in games. But if you are more productive and you don't just do menial tasks on your PC desktop then maybe get the I7? Probably go for the original idea.
Okay, this has Intel with an AMD GPU, but this has a 7970 from ASUS, so you can just OC it to over 1 Ghz. :D :D And dude, try mixing up Intel CPUs with AMD GPUs, makes your whole life a lot easier and AMD's 8350 may be good, but the i7 2600k preforms better. :D
[url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/SVjN]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/SVjN/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] / [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/p/SVjN/benchmarks/]Benchmarks[/url]
[b]CPU Cooler:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xigmatek-cpu-cooler-darkknightiisd1283nighthawkedition]Xigmatek Dark Knight II SD1283 Night Hawk Edition 89.5 CFM CPU Cooler[/url] ($49.95 @ Amazon)
[b]Memory:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31866c9d8gab]G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory[/url] ($64.99 @ Newegg)
[b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7pd256bw]Samsung 840 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk[/url] ($229.99 @ Amazon)
[b]Storage:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex]Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive[/url] ($66.32 @ Amazon)
[b]Video Card:[/b] [url=http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-100351sr]Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card[/url] ($402.38 @ Newegg)
Nvidia is the way to go for rendering/editing and cad a sweet 4GB 680 should make things butter smooth
16GB of 2400Mhz ram is niiiiiice!
case isn't flashy but gets the job done, contrary to the picture it has header and not a male end for USB 3, so it will attach to the mobo
I don't want to hear a "rosewill sux so cheap"
most companies have lines/series/brands that are cheapo, rosewill is no exception, but you know what, they also have a lot a kickass quality lines, these are the Green/Capstone/Tachyon/Fortress Series PSUs, all of them have won numerous awards from several reviewing website and comfirmed they have quality parts and power filtering. above that I've PERSONALLY used over 60 Rosewill PSUs of the above mentioned lines in builds for local people, not one DOA or problem
amd might be enconomical, but I'm a master at being a tight wad
intel is deffinetly the way to go
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/697?vs=551
budget arguments are invalid since I made a faster intel rig while being 22$ within budget
Keep trying though, one of you guys might be able to beat me one of these days