$500-$800 reliable machine

Oh well on the lower end of that budget spectrum and since no gaming perhaps some cheap 785G chipset with onboard HD4200 video but with 3 PCIex16 lanes, a dependable PSU and a great casing that offers outstanding airflow/ventilation for the $$ would be flexible hehe

Thanks for the quick reply. At least this can give me a base line as to what to start reading into first. Lots of info out there and kinda hard to filter out what I really need. thanks again.

You are welcomed ^^

If you want to spend a little more, you could add in a discrete card, such as the HD 4670 .

Here's a suggested build that would work great for your intended use:

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Antec earthwatts EA430 430W Continuous Power ATX12V v2.0 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite... $109.94 (Case + PSU combo)

AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL8D-4GBHK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite... $240.98 (CPU + RAM combo)

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GT-UD3H AM3 AMD 785G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $94.99

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $54.99

Sony Optiarc 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA Model AD-7240S-0B - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $31.99

Total - $532.89

thanks for the prompt feedback ppl. But heres a question that might clear up alot of confusion with me. How do I know what is compatible with what? I mean I could never come up with a list of items like that. lol

It just takes some research. You have to ensure the CPU is compatible with the motherboard. You also have to make sure the RAM is compatible with the CPU and motherboard. The above build is all compatible. We can tweak it if you would like.

You said you don't need an OS. What OS are you planning on using? I recommend 64-bit Windows 7 to take full advantage of the system. You could get this OS + DVD burner combo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite... $124.98 (64-bit Windows 7 + Samsung 22x SATA DVD burner)

I've recently been running Ubuntu 9.04 and so far I prefer it to any windows OS I've used. Now I may consider dual booting but not with Windows 7 yet. Perhaps in about a year after microsoft has worked out any bugs that it might have. If it's not to much trouble could sumone post up sum links that explain compatibility of parts and what the heck all the complicated descriptions mean. I don't mean to be difficult but I don't want to waste a bunch of time researching stuff I won't need. Like whats the difference between AMD and Intel other than the name? for this new machine I'll be handling alot of photos and editing them as well. So storage and rendering is important.