/3/ - 3DCG

Hi, I'm a total newbie to 3D. I'm learning 3DS Max and plan to use Unreal Engine and become a Game Developer or work making 3D assets to games. I'm going to buy an new PC, mainly for studying and gaming. My father will pay it and asked to some guy who used to teach hardware to build a configuration who suits my needs as a student and a gamer. What keeps making me think is: This guy came here a few weeks later to fix my mother's laptop.
While doing it he said that to use 3DS Max I'm going to need a computer with an Intel processor with at least 5 cores, he also said that AMD makes video cards and processors only for gamers and any 3D software won't perform well if I'm using one of these (I've read about cuda cores but I think this won't matter as I'm a noob in 3D and wont be rendering complex objects very soon). He also said that a PC good for gaming and studying won't cost above 1.900 (A brand new i5 costs around 1.200 in my country). But what I want to know is: Is what he told any true? Is it bullshit? What are good configs to starters in 3D who are in low budget? Should I get an used PC? Also, sorry for the terrible English, I'm not American.