I agree with the rest here, buy the good hardware, but don't go overboard just because the budget allows it. Instead spend some premium on peripherals, as these are what you see and hear and essentially define your gaming experience. If he needs a screen, based on your post I think he will appreciate a 27" inch 1440 IPS screen. BenQ has a good one for gaming that is priced competitively. http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/benq-to-release-gw2765ht-gaming-27-ips-monitor.html http://www.amazon.com/BenQ-GW2765HT-27-Inch-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B00KYCSRSG I play on a similar Dell screen and it makes RPGs like Skyrim great, it gives you something that all the mods can't do by themselves. Else as others said, the goto i5, 16 gb RAM, 250 or 500 gb SSD (Backup HDD maybe), and a GTX970, which has 4gb of RAM. If he wants to let the pig dance, then go with a GTX980. Choose Gigabyte G1 Gaming, or ASUS Strix. I wouldn't skimp on sound. A solution would be the Corsair Gaming Sound. Maybe abit more savy, a pair of Audioengine A2s. Get him a decent mouse, and a decent mechanical keyboard (cherry redmx or brownmx), and he will surely feel he has gotten his moneys worth and an awesome system.