Finally have enough cash to buy a decent system. I plan on playing games like CoD : Black Ops, and anything else that comes out in the next 2-4 years. I'd like to at least play Black ops on Medium, preferably HIGH quality so that it serves as a reference point for later on, assuming if I could play that on high, I can play newer games on medium and low towards the end.

So far I have two options. Both Simple - One Cheap, and One Expensive.
I will post the NewEgg lists here. If you would rather I post the hardware name instead just ask.
Right now I am at the point where this thing IS NOT going to cost me more than 400. I don't have that much to spend on it without allowing some money for other stuff. I'd really like it to stay around $340. Now, my expensive list is over my budget, however...I figured you guys could mix the two lists together to make the ultimate system for about $340. I already have a 585 Watt Orion PSU. I haven't though much about a case yet either. I have a couple here, but then again...I want this thing to be nice...BUT I want it to be as quiet as possible, and maybe I have a case for it already then.

One of the biggest factors I am facing is the CPU. I can get a nice Athlon II cpu for about half of the Phenom II. However, they have no L3 cache. I really think that would be a stupid choice if I were wanting to play games in the future...what do you guys suggest? I am willing to drop a core on the quad if it will not effect me. I'm also willing to drop 1 to 200 GHz off of the CPU, assuming with multiple cores, the 3.2 would not be neccesary. (however, I am still figuring that there is plenty of single core software that the extra GHz would be needed)

2011 Cheap Build :
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12997451
2011 Expensive Build :
http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=12997771

Those graphics cards are gonna cause you some issues if you want them to play games into the near future. ATI's numbering is weird in that it's not so much the 1000 numbers that matter, but the 100s. So for examples, a 4800 is more powerful than a 5600. The 1000 numbers usually correspond to the year they were released. For games like black ops, you might be pushing it with a 600 card, though having never used one before I can't say for sure. If you can afford to, bump it up to a 700, or even better, an 800 series card. Of course, with your budget that might be an issue.

I'd definitely stick with the phenom II... athlon II is just a waste of time for your purposes. If you don't multi-task, you could probably even go with a dual core and then upgrade later to save cash and put it toward a better graphics card now. Most games don't take advantage of quad-cores at this stage in the game, so it's really all about your clock speed (GHz).

Black ops is almost entirely used by the cpu because it is a console port, you could have the crappiest gpu in the world but if you had a good cpu, it would run fine

if you hope to play games with this for the next 2-4 years you should definatly get a quad and 4gb ddr3 1600mhz RAM or 1333mhz with tight timmings. also you really should get a dx11 card. 58xx or 68xx gpu will last a lot longer but that will push you over budget so idk, maybe save some more cash, i would. or you could try pick up a second hand 5830 or somthing like that for a good price. but you will probably need a new PSU for that with the quad core.

combo deals are also another good way to go
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBund ... mbo.548058

with this gpu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150497

and a 700w psu
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817341018

thats a mid range system for $600. if you can get the GPU second had you could save a bit.

im sorry to break it too you but $350-$400 just isnt enough to build a half decent gaming rig that can run new games on medium too high settings for 2-4 years.

save some more cash, it will be worth it i promise