If you want to keep costs down no you don't need an i7 for gaming. Most games won't utilize all the cores anyway i5 is fine. 1050 is more than enough to play AAA games maybe not at ultra. But I can play GTA5 on my 14" ultrabook with mx150 graphics and get a pleasant experience.
I'd look at Dell's inspiron gaming series. They have good spec/value and don't look like the typical ROG or MSI gamer style.
take the dell Inspiron gaming i7577 on Amazon here the link
https/www.amazon.com/Dell-i7577-5241BLK-PUS-Inspiron-Display-Gaming/dp/B0764HW117/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1512397180&sr=1-6&keywords=dell+15+gaming+laptop
That is US dollars or AUD? certainly cost more that topic creator has budgeted... as all the 1060 I could see was 2000+ AUD...
If you want to keep costs down no you don't need an i7 for gaming. Most games won't utilize all the cores anyway i5 is fine. 1050 is more than enough to play AAA games maybe not at ultra. But I can play GTA5 on my 14" ultrabook with mx150 graphics and get a pleasant experience.
I'd look at Dell's inspiron gaming series. They have good spec/value and don't look like the typical ROG or MSI gamer style.
take the dell Inspiron gaming i7577 on Amazon here the link
https/www.amazon.com/Dell-i7577-5241BLK-PUS-Inspiron-Display-Gaming/dp/B0764HW117/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1512397180&sr=1-6&keywords=dell+15+gaming+laptop
Prices really suck in Australia, like how here we have to pay 1,950 for a Titan X... But that laptop in Australia costs $1,999.
$999 USD is $1324.74 AUD. That makes a whopping $674.26 difference! I think I will just go with a Dell Inspiron 15 7567.