The last was install was mucked up by my newbie attempts to install the devices before the system was fully set up -along the way I am learning a great deal,

thanks to this forum largely, This time around I finally managed to have a fully functional Synfig Studio -awesome. So now I need a solid Xorg configuration and optimised to process faster. I will have to give up some of the eye candy. Any ideas to help me set this machine up primarily for animation, art and the occasional facebook game.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

Google up for snippets of xorg.conf that fit your need. Everybody needs are different, so the best is just to learn how it work, try things and incrementally improve them. You probably want a wacom section in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf .

I found a great deal on Xorg but none of it simple enough for me and I crashed to where I could not start the x-serverx so I reinstalled - again. I don't suppose there is a generic xorg.conf to keep handy and treplace the butchered one with in cases such as this, to be a sinmple alternative to another reinstall?

Easiest way is to backup xorg.conf immediately after install, before you change anything.
You can use ctrl-alt-F1 .. ctrl-alt-F6 to get cli console if you break GUI.
See my answer to your other qn for good links.
Also, messing with Xorg may not be the answer; default desktop is Gnome (iirc) which is heavy; try eg xfce or search here at LQ for other lightweight desktop env qns.

At what point does the computer snoop and find all peripherals? Only after Xserver has started? I am sure I've use the mouse in programs started at the command line MC for instance. Where are those configuration files? can they be edited/tweaked?

Cent is very much like RHEL and most things are a bit manual
if you want everything auto done for you install OpenSUSE

However most hardware should be auto picked on on boot ( if it is plugged in and on )

as for xorg
cent 6 dose not NEED one BUT if one is there it will use it
for nvidia 3d card run
ati has one also

if a built in intel chip you might need to make sure the driver listed in the xorg.conf is "intel"

and there IS an example on the xorg site
http://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/index.html
the man page ( you have it installed also )
http://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/man/man1/