Budget Friendly Computer Gift

[AwkdShellfish]

Hi all,

I was hoping to get some input. I am building this computer for a close friend of mine, however I am on a budget since this is considered a Christmas gift.

1. Are you building this computer yourself or having one built for you (Like HP, Alienware, or even a small shop)?
Myself.

2. What is your budget and does that include shipping/taxes?
$300. No shipping/taxes included.

3. Where do you live (Please list town, state, and country)?
Southern California.

4. What do you need this computer to do (like gaming, Photoshop, and so on)?
Preferable to play Planetside 2 and run a dual/triple monitor setup, however not sure if 300$ is going to cut it.

5. What parts will you need for the computer? List what parts specifically, saying you need everything will not do.
Motherboard, CPU, RAM, SSD, Video Card, perhaps a new PSU.

6. Are you reusing any parts for this computer? If so say what parts (make and model).
I have an old old Thermaltake 350watt PSU back from my Pentium 4 days. Not sure if that's going to cut it. He also has three tower cases that can fit micro ATX boards in them. He just has no hardware to fill it up, so I'm helping him.

7. What kind of monitor/resolution do you have or want to get to use for the computer?
Samsung 23.4 inch monitor, for now.

8. Do you have already have a OS or do you need one? What OS is that?
Windows 7 Ultimate.

9. What are you looking for the motherboard to have feature wise? Like SLI, Crossfire, Firewire, USB 3.0, Sata 6.0 Gb/s, and so on.
Bare minimum would be nice considering price constraint.

10. Any plans to overclock the CPU or GPU?
ABSOLUTELY NONE.

11. What time kind of time frame are you planning on ordering these parts?
End of December or early Jan. No biggie.

I was hoping to build him something decent on budget, but looking at the Intel path, the price range jumps. Which is why I decided to take the AMD route...or perhaps I am missing something?