With a lower budget your limited with a lesser CPU and GPU but can survive on a sub $500 gaming system for a few years. Would look into an I3 or AMD build, 8GBs memory, no SSD, and try to get the best GPU you can afford with the remaining budget.
won't be 60 FPS on Ultra anything, but its something and could most certainly leave your friend with an upgrade path in the future when more money could be put into the system.