singleviking Loc: Lake Sebu Eco Park, Philippines

You really need to talk to someone who knows tech since DDR3 is the standard now but it comes in many flavors. They can go as high as PC-24000 and the new Intel system for memory access is Quad access.
You also need to know that Intel CPUs are not all quad core. Even some i7 CPUs are not quad core (i7-4770 is quad core) but you can get more core processors for less money with AMD FX series as a CPU and the added heat is no problem in a good box with proper matched CPU fan or cooler.
I'd go with the higher memory video card but be sure it's from a reputable company. nVidea for Intel and Radeon for AMD CPUs. You can always upgrade the CPU to higher speed unit later for reasonable cost but the bus speed is limited to what's in the MOBO and that can't be upgraded without a new MOBO with different CPU socket and BRIDGE circuitry.
MOBO of choice should be the ASUS SABERTOOTH Z87 for Intel or SABERTOOTH 990 for AMD. This gets you a 5 year exchange/ replacement warranty.
With only a single video card and little add-on cards inside your box, you should be safe with a 500 watt power supply. CPU will burn up to 100 watts of that or more alone.
Try to find a case that has front access to the USB 3.0 bus connectors. Cheap boxes only have USB 2.0 connections on the top or front. And look for good ventilation and filters in an all metal box and without all the plastic crap. A good tower can last through 2 or 3 systems builds and upgrades.(10 years)
For most people, you really won't need more than 8 Gig of RAM but the RAM speed can go as high as 1800 Mhz clock. Typical good system with mediocre priced RAM has speed of 1600 Mhz clock. Both of the ASUS SABERTOOTH MOBOs will support up to 1800 Mhz RAM.
For video card, XFX and ASUS both have good cards and ASUS has OHIO based customer service so no Hindi reps that you can't understand. You only need 1 Gig of DDR5 for photo work but if video is in your future, 2 Gig is better. A good card now costs about $100 to $200 depending on vendor and brand. Radeon 7000 series or nVidea 650 are good systems
With a tower or mid tower case, you can easily upgrade or work on components easily and have good ventilation.
With regard to storage media, try to go for WD BLACK series since they are all top quality and have the longest warranty. For SSD, the OS will easily go onto a 128 Gig unit but with prices coming down, you can get a 256 Gig SSD now for under $130. Then have a 1 Terabit HDD for files storage. That should keep him with plenty of storage space and fast bootup for quite some time in the future.
Then next Christmas you can get him an IPS LED 24" or 27" display monitor or a 32" 4K monitor to keep the "WOW" coming. Also look into the K800 series WIFI keyboard and T-850 touchpad to replace the mouse.
With this system, you're definitely going to hear the "WOW" you were expecting from his first bootup.