gotmilk

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, I was having second thoughts, because I realized this is just going to hold me over.  I'm also going to go with the cheaper motherboard and no CPU fan, since I'm not going to overclock.  That keeps me just under $400.

Thanks again guys for all your help.  I'm still not 100% sure I'm getting this computer yet, but it's probable considering it's under $400.

Mmmmk, I'll take your word for it on the motherboard and RAM, except I'll go with this RAM.

Anything else?

Ok, I guess that's not too much.  Is that all?

Ok, here's the new list with stuff added from your suggestions:

Processor

Motherboard

Memory

Video card

Power supply

10 of these

CPU fan

Anything else?  I can keep my case right?

Ok, if I decide to just get completely new parts, here are my plans:

Processor

Either this or this motherboard

Memory

Video card

Power Supply

I'm planning on keeping my Hard drive and optical drives for now, anyone see anything wrong with any of that?  I'm also planning to buy 10 of these fans, just because.  What else will I need? 

Ok, how's this?  Do I need dual-channel?

Here's some other stuff you might need about my memory.

Translation?  What kind of RAM do I need to buy?

Thanks outlaw.  Will there be much difference between that processor you posted and this one dlewis posted?

I'm going to wait to see how much my upgrade is going to cost and how much money I get for Christmas to see if I can get that 7900 GS.

Ok, I did the latency test but I can't make heads or tails of it.  Do you mind telling me what it means?

Cache latency computation, ver 1.0

www.cpuid.com

Computing ...

stride  4      8      16      32      64      128    256    512

size (Kb)

1      3      3      3      3      3      3      3      3

2      3      3      3      3      3      3      3      3

4      3      3      3      3      3      3      3      3

8      3      3      3      3      3      3      3      3

16      3      3      3      3      3      3      3      3

32      3      3      3      3      3      3      3      3

64      3      3      3      3      3      3      3      3

128    4      6      9      18      20      21      20      20

256    4      6      9      18      20      20      21      31

512    25      41      85      170    303    335    350    325

1024    25      56      86      181    306    336    349    325

2048    25      45      88      173    340    330    312    356

4096    38      62      87      173    356    315    342    337

8192    25      44      85      202    323    348    325    343

16384  45      42      85      171    321    351    311    352

32768  20      40      86      170    321    319    351    342

2 cache levels detected

Level 1        size = 64Kb    latency = 3 cycles

Level 2        size = 256Kb    latency = 22 cycles

Is that even what I needed to do?

Oh, hehe. 

I'd like to stay cheap on the motherboard so I can afford to buy everything else, so will that one that dlewis posted for $59.99 suffice?

Now, about that RAM, I'd like to add another 512 MB, any good but cheap solutions?

BTW guys thanks for all your help so far, and for being patient with my lack of computer knowledge. 

Wow, those are cheap!  I can afford to get those and buy the video card and maybe some RAM if I also use the Christmas money I'll be getting for other people.  But back to that 7600 GT....  I need something with a VGA port, my monitor is VGA only.

Ok, well, suggestions for new motherboards/processors that won't cost too much?  How do I find out if I'm on Socket A?  What kind of cooling will I need to add?  Keep in mind guys that I'm also saving for a "desktop replacement" at the same time, this is just going to hold me over. 

I'm probably getting this video card for Christmas.  The pictures below show my current setup.

1.  Is this a good choice?

2.  What should I upgrade next (processor, memory, etc.), and what model do you suggest (nothing too expensive)?

3.  Do I need any extra cooling?

Right, my mom said maybe in couple months, which is convenient, because a couple months is what you said I would need to forward her e-mail account.  After the first year of $27.99/month, the 6/608 from AT&T is $39.99/month, but I told her I would gladly make up the $10/month between that and the $29.99/month from Conwaycorp.

What's worse?  There's so much traffic on this node that I can hardly ever get near 3 Mbps.

:::.. testmy.net test results ..:::

Download Connection is:: 1737 Kbps about 1.74 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)

Download Speed is:: 212 kB/s

Upload Connection is:: 239 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 386 kB)

Upload Speed is:: 29 kB/s

Tested From:: https://testmy.net (Server 1)

Test Time:: 2006/12/09 - 10:21am

D-Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-O15RG0QTN

U-Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-A0D4UVWC7

User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0. Gecko/20061025 Firefox/1.5.0.8 [!]

Ok, it finally worked.  Thanks Volateman. 

gotmilk what headset did u get ?

Audio 330 or something like that.

I just unmuted the mic so I could talk.  I want to talk, but I don't want what goes through the headphones to go back through my mic.

I can't find the option for that...

Ah, that fixed it, thanks.

EDIT:  ARRGH!  Now when I get on teamspeak everything that comes through the earphones goes though the mic!

I just bought a cheap Plantronics headphone/mic combo and I can't get the microphone to work.  Anyone have advice?

Yeah, but my upload speed was always 252-253 Kbps on the other node at any time of the day.  Oh well, I guess 15 Kbps isn't a big deal.

Oh, well that's good.  Anyway, my upload speeds on this node aren't as good as they were on the node where I was before I moved.

:::.. testmy.net test results ..:::

Download Connection is:: 2976 Kbps about 2.98 Mbps (tested with 2992 kB)

Download Speed is:: 363 kB/s

Upload Connection is:: 237 Kbps about 0.2 Mbps (tested with 386 kB)

Upload Speed is:: 29 kB/s

Tested From:: https://testmy.net (Server 1)

Test Time:: 2006/12/02 - 4:49pm

D-Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-UD9MOE8XT

U-Validation Link:: https://testmy.net/stats/id-TZCYNUA7S

User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0. Gecko/20061025 Firefox/1.5.0.8 [!]

About 15-17 Kbps lower. 

Grrrr, my mom is making excuses to stay with POC Conwaycorp (the crappy cable company) when I've made it clear to her that AT&T is the better choice (and it is).  One of her excuses is that she wants to keep her e-mail address because that's where everybody knows to e-mail her, including businesses.  Is there a way to remedy that problem?    She said no matter what I tell her, she doesn't want to switch right now because she already has too much going on (and she does have a lot going on), but it wouldn't be much trouble to switch.  At least she said maybe after things get settled down we can switch.  Oh well. 

Thanks guys. 

I'm going to call AT&T either today or tomorrow and ask them about it.

Well, with AT&T you can get the 6/608 package for $27.99/month for the first year and they 3/256 package I have now with the local cable company is $29.99 a month.  Double the download and more than double the upload for less (at least for the first year).

They probably don't have any competition.

Correct you are.  Their only competition is, in fact, AT&T.

Well, I'm moving to an apartment within the next week or so (long story).  If my apartment is wired for AT&T phone service, does that mean, assuming I'm within the right distance from the CO, that I can get AT&T DSL even if the apartment manager doesn't say they "support" it?  Otherwise I'm stuck with the same crappy 3/256 cable connection I have now.