Happy to say I did not.  Other than my GTX 260 dropping $100 in price less than a year later.  

This is pretty much perfect. Dare I say a rig like that one should last the entire generation, if you don't mind reducing settings. Though I'd replace Windows 8.1 with Windows 7, which can be found for $70 or less if you look around, and just upgrade to Windows 10 when the time comes.

@OP, don't forget the cost of a monitor, unless you plan on playing on your TV. Monitors are generally pretty long lived, in my experience, so it might be worth it to look for a used one.

I wouldn't go with the 280.  You'll get very consistent 30 fps at 1080p for most games, but you won't get to 60 fps.  How pay $700 to get something close to a PS4.  You mind as well just get a PS4 with a bundled game for $399.

I would go at least an AMD 290 4GB (less than $300) or a cheap sub-$300 GTX 970, so you can get close to 60 fps for most games at 1080p.  It'll set you back an extra $100.

I actually agree with another poster here.  I would go moderate-high for CPU, motherboard and memory that can last you several years.  And gimp on a weak GPU for now.  In the future, in few years, you can switch out a very good GPU.  

But a very good GPU a few years from now won't fit with the older components. He would likely need to replace the motherboard, RAM and PSU and possibly the CPU if the goes for an i3 like some have recommended. That kind of defeats the whole purpose imo.

Sorry it's been so late, but had to go to work.  Also I might only be able to do one more post after this; gotta get going somewhere.  My display?  Well something pretty large.  Not 4K resolution, but something decent.  I know that hasn't been taken into account yet, but I'm considering that a separate purchase for now.

Edit:  That also goes for mouse and keyboard, sound system and other I/O devices.

I'm taking everyone's advice into consideration. Overflow this topic if you have to. Over the weekend I can look everything over more thoroughly. Thank you, and keep em' coming :)

Hate to break it to you, but what you want isn't possible. My 1200 dollar rig from 3 years ago is now a midrange PC. If you're spending 650 now, it's going to be able to play things on high at 1080p for the next 2 years probably. Spending 650 will get you something a bit stonger than a PS4. Get an fx 8320, a 280, and 8 gigs of ram. Sorry dude, but what you want out of a PC wouldn't even be possible if you spend over 7 grand on a desktop. 

With a brand new generation of GPU's coming next year, there will likely be differences in connectors and slots, this is a fairly common problem, especially with performance cards and older hardware. There is a great chance that any PSU and motherboard in the budget range you buy now won't accommodate a high performance GPU in a few years. Heck; my motherboard doesn't support DDR3 RAM, for instance, and my current GPU had the wrong connectors for my old PSU and wouldn't perform or even fit well on my old motherboard either (had an Asus P5B series in the budget range).

Balance still matters in PC builds. The i3 pairs well with any video card under the R9 290/390 or GTX 970 when working within budgetary constraints. Generally speaking, spending an extra $100 on an i5 would be better spent on a $300 card rather than a $200 one for a gaming PC.

As for the Windows license, it's generally fallen out of favor to cut costs like the price of a license out of a build. Yes, everyone knows how to illegally pirate software, just as anyone can salvage/steal/canibalize components; this doen't count when it comes to pricing the cost of a PC. Anyone can see where this is going: if you can score a $300 CPU for free you have a $1200 build for $900 and while you're at it, if you can get all components for free or a fraction of the current market prices, you can get a $1500 build for a few bills.