I would say that the 3600x is better. However, depending on his budget, he might be advised to go to a ryzen 5 2600 for around 120 dollars and use the money saved towards a better video card which will be more of a factor.
In fact, truth be told, a real value play if on a budget, might be to pick up a ryzen 5 1600 as those can be had for about 80 dollars. Particularly look for the 1600af as those are supposed to be essentially the same as a 2600 with a little lower clock speed and 1st generation memory controller. But pick one of those up and overclock a little perhaps and pair it up with a good video card and you've got a decent box.
However if you friend has a lower budget, then as I said, I'd go maybe with a 1600 or 2600 and use money saved towards a stronger video card as that will more immediately help games and fps.