Computer purchasing help.

[swirly]

I have a friend (in Florida so you know where things will ship to) that is in need of a computer. She currently has a laptop that is dying on her and wants to switch to a desktop. Has the various accessories for one like mouse, keyboard, and printer. She also plans to use a TV she has as the monitor. So just needs a tower, but will need all the parts for that... case, memory, hard drive, video card, etc. She does know somebody who has experience assembling computers, but he tends to want to spend every drop of money he can on it and she is looking to not do that. So I thought I would post here for some suggestions.

My understanding is that there is a hard cap of $1,000 on this. She would prefer to spend as much less than that as she can. So aim for low, but if an upgrade is worthwhile and keeps things under that amount then it is probably fine too. Just try to favor cheaper with an eye on the future. It is also conceivable that she could order stuff to get a working machine now and then upgrade further later on so where possible do try to future proof.

Usage seems to be some gaming. I was told specifically games like Borderlands and the new Tomb Raider if those help give a reference for necessary power level.

Think you can help me come up with suggestions for her? I've never been overly good at picking things myself, but I know some people on here are.