Is this a good gaming computer for the price?

Well the only thing I see is, windows 8 is not very ideal for gaming.

I recommend windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

There are some games that a GTX 650 will not run at max settings very well, but any game you run at max settings will have low FPS and will experience some graphics lag on that GPU. That is a good computer for pretty much every game out right now.

Typically the "top of the line" (as priced and advertised) computers are not made with the best parts, which means the lifetimes of those parts are very short (hence more moolah for them.)

The best computers being used for gamin are not sold in stores, the are assembled by savvy consumers shopping for hardware/software parts by vendors. Look for a "computer shop" where they sell parts and assemble it.

My friend did this and he has optimal graphics playing flight simulator: spent $2,000 and can detailed landscape graphics for miles from the plan.

Can run some games at ultra settings with low fps , better at high settings a gtx 660 ti or higher with those specs will get better fps at ultra settings

You'll need a better graphics card to max anything.