Is the UD3H board better for $1 more?

I don't know how serious she wants to get with the photo editing. As I understand it, the cpu is where you want to concentrate the most for photo editing.

That's one of the cheapest cases on that page. :(

I'm helping my friend in Australia build her pc for about $700 AUD. She's going to be using it for general use (homework, internet, watching movies, etc.) and light video editing with Adobe One Premiere. I don't think she'll be gaming at all besides browser games or very light games. Does she need a dedicated GPU?

She's going to be buying off this list http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf The prices already include tax. I'm having a lot of trouble since there is a limited selection and there isn't much info on there. I'm trying to match up stuff with specs listed on newegg. Here's what I've got right now.

CPU: AMD X4 9550 for $192 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674&cm_re=x4_955-_-19-103-674-_-Product

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard for $98 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392&Tpk=770t

RAM: G. Skill 4gb (2x 2gb) ddr3 1333 $118

PSU: Cooler Master Extreme Power+ 500 for $65

HDD: Seagate 500 gb for $59

Case: Antec 300 for $79

DVD: Samsung $38

Total is $649 right now.

Is there a better motherboard or psu on that site? Also any other substitutions you would make? She also needs a network card. I don't know how to pick one of those out. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks! That worked. I still don't get why it would need to be reseated all of a sudden. :S

I was playing the L4D2 demo fine for about 2 hours on my Dell desktop with a 8600gt and shut down the pc with no problems afterwards. The next time I powered up my pc 1 hour later, my monitor could not detect a signal. I plugged the vga cable into the port for onboard video and I was able to get a signal fine. When I went to device manager, it only showed the intel integrated chipset as my display adapter. I tried to install the newest drivers for my 8600gt, but it said no hardware was detected for those drivers. What should I do? I don't understand what could have happened that it would suddenly not work.

Edit: There were no yellow question marks in the device manager list and the 8600gt was not listed at all. Also, this pc has been working fine for over a year.

What's wrong with it? I've never bought a compaq before.

You can add a video card later, but probably not with that 300w psu. I found more detailed specs in this review. http://www.desktopreview.com/default.asp?newsID=743&Review=HP+Compaq+CQ5110f It seems like a pretty lame system, but it might do for a non gamer.

It won't let me link directly to the page. It's this one on that page.

Compaq Presario
AMD Athlon X2 7550 2.5GHz
6-in-1 Card Reader
LightScribe 16x DVD±RW Drive
Windows® Vista Home Premium
Item # 480291

That build vs. this http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11485562&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84|56671&N=4035053%204294967277&Mo=4&No=2&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=78521&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1⟨=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=

Which one is better? It will come out to be around the same price after adding a monitor. If it's only marginally better, then she should probably just get a store bought one.

It won't let me link to the page... It's this one.
Compaq Presario
AMD Athlon X2 7550 2.5GHz
6-in-1 Card Reader
LightScribe 16x DVD±RW Drive
Windows® Vista Home Premium
Item # 480291

I've revised it with some suggestions I've gotten. Does this look good?

Motherboard ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

CPU AMD Athlon II X2 245 Regor 2.9GHz Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX245OCGQBOX - Retail

RAM G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL6S-2GBMQ - Retail

PSU CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply - Retail

HDD Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

Case Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

CD/DVD Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model AD-7241S-0B LightScribe Support - OEM

I'll probably add another stick of 2 gb ram to it later on. Should I be getting ddr2 1066 ram? It says this for the motherboard.

* Due to AMD CPU limitation, DDR2 1066 is supported by AM2+/AM3 CPU for one DIMM per channel only.