Also, if you reallllllllllly want to skimp on some things to balance your computer, you could very well opt for AMD CPU/APU architectures such as the Kaveri CPU+GPU solutions which will save you hundreds and still pwn next gen games. Most people will bash AMD but since all consoles for the next 5-7 years use both AMD CPU and GPU's that means everything will be optimized for them anyway giving a great boost for the value for the next several years.
And don't listen to anyone about AMD sucking. It's not that they make inferior CPU's to Intel, it's that they made excellent CPU's that simply are too advanced and no one is taking advantage of their innovations. People always stick with what they know, and since AMD always has multithreading in mind (and since developers are only just now starting to multithread) it's always been to AMD's disadvantage to keep up their APU designs.
In the end, you could get an AMD optimized multi-core CPU-GPU combo that is very much like console hardware all for the same price as a SINGLE intel CPU and still play all games around 60FPS on high settings
AMD A10-Series APU A10-7700K with Radeon R7 Series (ecx-Mic-US-45013)
$130 -- AMD A10-7700K with Radeon R7 Series GPU
◾Cores: 10 Compute Cores (4 CPU + 6 GPU)³
◾Frequency: 3.8GHz
◾Socket: FM2+
The FM2+ line of motherboards will be used in the coming AMD lineup for 2015 also so that gives your friend an excellent way to get what he wants now, and if necessary he can opt for a new CPU-GPU combo with the coming architectures.
The price is unbeatable for what you get (1080p/60 FPS on high settings which will smoke consoles without costing much more)
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