Rig for casual gaming and heavy photoshop/illustrator use

[Rangan Das]

I'm planning on upgrading my CPU (preferably AMD 8-core) and GPU (AMD 7700 series or higher) and RAM if necessary. What's gonna be my best bet in about 350~370USD, given I'm buying them by the last quarter of this year?

I currently own a Asus M5A785L-M LX PLUS Motherboard (125W CPU support/max. 16GB RAM), with 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM, a 1GB DDR3 Radeon HD6670 and a dual core 3.2 GHz AMD Athlon II CPU, Cooler Master Thunder 500W PSU. For cooling, I got 3 120mm Cooler Master fans and 1 80mm LED fan, all in a Cooler master 690 advanced chassis.

My screen is 1080p but for gaming, I go down to 1366x768 res with 2xAA and everything else maxed out and I'm pretty okay with that. As for Illustrator and Photoshop (both CS6), I have to design a lot of posters, some as large as 48x72 inches, 300dpi, and a lot of RAW photo editing.

Now, I need to know what components will give me a decent system so that I can go atleast 4 years without another upgrade, and can play the upcoming games in 1366x768 with everything else on high, and use the latest version of Ps/Ai.

PS. I will not OC if it's not needed and I use Windows 8 Pro x64.

 

[Gam3r01]

Hello,
The best bet for the AMD card is probably going to be the HD 7750 with 2 gigs of memory for around 130 dollars. I personally got mine at best buy.

As for the processor you could get the AMD FD8320FRHKBOX FX-8320 Eight-Core 3.5GHz AM3+ Processor for about 170. You would first have to see what socket your motherboard can handle either AM3 or AM3+

With the ram you should be alright unless you find yourself maxing out currently. I find 6 is enough for heavy gaming so 8 should be just fine.

 

[Rangan Das]

Hello,
The best bet for the AMD card is probably going to be the HD 7750 with 2 gigs of memory for around 130 dollars. I personally got mine at best buy.

As for the processor you could get the AMD FD8320FRHKBOX FX-8320 Eight-Core 3.5GHz AM3+ Processor for about 170. You would first have to see what socket your motherboard can handle either AM3 or AM3+

With the ram you should be alright unless you find yourself maxing out currently. I find 6 is enough for heavy gaming so 8 should be just fine.

So, given I'm not investing in any RAM at the moment, I can invest for a better GPU, right? Because 7750, I think, will struggle with games like Crysis 3 maxed out (everything except the resolution). And speaking of upcoming games, like BF4, Splinter Cell Blacklist, CoD Ghosts, etc, isn't 7790 or 7850 gonna be a better option?

 

[Gam3r01]

Hello,
The best bet for the AMD card is probably going to be the HD 7750 with 2 gigs of memory for around 130 dollars. I personally got mine at best buy.

As for the processor you could get the AMD FD8320FRHKBOX FX-8320 Eight-Core 3.5GHz AM3+ Processor for about 170. You would first have to see what socket your motherboard can handle either AM3 or AM3+

With the ram you should be alright unless you find yourself maxing out currently. I find 6 is enough for heavy gaming so 8 should be just fine.

So, given I'm not investing in any RAM at the moment, I can invest for a better GPU, right? Because 7750, I think, will struggle with games like Crysis 3 maxed out (everything except the resolution). And speaking of upcoming games, like BF4, Splinter Cell Blacklist, CoD Ghosts, etc, isn't 7790 or 7850 gonna be a better option?

Yes the 7790 or the 7850 would be a better choice, but only if you're willing to spend that much. Both of those cards tend to get a bit pricey and you also run into having to get a new power supply as each of those draws in excess of 450 watts. So the money saved on ram will probably have to go to picking up a new corsair psu.

 

[Rangan Das]

Yes the 7790 or the 7850 would be a better choice, but only if you're willing to spend that much. Both of those cards tend to get a bit pricey and you also run into having to get a new power supply as each of those draws in excess of 450 watts. So the money saved on ram will probably have to go to picking up a new corsair psu.

Is the 500W too low in this case? What do you think of FX-8300 and Radeon 7850 combo? 'cause 8300 has a lower TDP... 95W, as far as I know.

 

[Gam3r01]

A 500 watt should power everything, the ratings on the gpus tend to be a decent bit higher than what they draw.

 

[Rangan Das]

A 500 watt should power everything, the ratings on the gpus tend to be a decent bit higher than what they draw.

Well, like I said, I'm not going to OC the GPU.

 

[Gam3r01]

I meant the power consumption on the gpus, mine says it requires 450 watts and my cpu alone requires another 125. Yet I am running a 500 watt psu with energy to spare.