Not sure what I need.

I'm pretty illiterate when it comes to the workings of computers, I play games, I do graphics editing, but I never learned the inner workings.

I'm looking for a low end system around 3-450 for just the components minus keyboard,mouse,monitor. From what I gather building is much better but being that I don't know how, I'm asking you guys what to do. Still not sure whether to build or just buy from a small local store. I'm no "gamer" just C&C and graphics creation really, I'm looking for a simple bang for the buck system that might out do this 5 YO Compaq >.< The biggest programs I run are macromedia fireworks and itunes, usually open at the same time.

If you guys could furnish some links as to maybe what I should look for, what kind of system specs I would be best to grab that'd be great. Like I said still not sure about building it, puting it togeather is the easy part, I build homes for a living, it's the knowning which components work here and the set-up of the software is what I'm not sure about.

-sav

Thank you for your input Why_Me, Just a question now that I can do some research off a base computer. would it be worth while to upgrade the 7100 to something better? or will it still be just fine for the C&C or photo editing/graphics design?

Good call. I spaced that one. This card down below should do just fine for what you need. btw, I don't usually post pre builts on here, but for what you want, it's cheaper I think to get a pre built then to price it out piece by piece. And it wouldn't be easy to match the prices on a lot of those gateways.

That gateway has a PCI-E x16 slot for that card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130313 $39.99 ($29.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate)
EVGA 512-P2-N738-LR GeForce 8400 GS 512MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail

You might find it hard to overclock it. These PCs usually have locks in the BIOS to prevent it, or weak cooling, or small cases that won't allow a good aftermarket CPU cooler.

Not to drag up a dead horse here but I wanted to check something with you guys before I bought the graphics card. Should the 8400 be able to run on the 300W PS? I've been reading reviews saying the PS is too small to handle other gfx cards.



Also would this be a better buy?

Pentium dual-core E5200(2.50GHz) 6GB DDR2 640GB NVIDIA GeForce 9200


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6883113094

Over the original I was considering?

Pentium dual-core E5200(2.50GHz) 4GB DDR2 640GB NVIDIA GeForce 7100

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6883113078