bicycle_repair_man :
How much of a budget are we talking about? I notice that you've not included a few other components; do you need those as well?
You should be good at 1080p and medium settings but for how much longer is anyone's guess. As newer titles get released, you may need to turn the resolution down to 720p or ditch post-processing tasks (such as AA) in order to get a smoother ride. I'd suggest you stretch to an R9 270 or GTX 760 if you can. If you do do this then you'd want to look at a 500W or 600W PSU. The Corsair CX range is fine, I have one myself.
A minor point is that the processor socket (AM3) has already been superseeded by AM3+, so future upgradability is compromised. Obviously this is irrelevent if your cousin doesn't plan to upgrade within the next few years.
Yes I have gathered the other components for the most part already.
We have a microcenter close and can get a FX 6300 and ASUS M5A97 R2.0 combo for $169 so I think im going to go that route on cpu/mobo
and we aren't in any big rush, so just waiting on sales and deals.
He is low on cash though that's why we are searching for the best budget for performance that we can possibly get.
so when you streatch to a r9 and it only adds a few bucks here, then you have to upgrade your PSU, etc...its a chain.
Just tryhing to get him going and wanted to do the am3+ now so he has a bit more of an upgrade path.
Can he get away with 4 gigs of system ram? I know 8 is always recommended for gaming and its what I personally have, but wondered about 4.