Ignorance isn't bliss...

[Nitestick]

basically you're right. it is the same cpu at a higher clock speed. the parts you listed last that included the x2 4400+ are a pretty good choice. also as was pointed out if you are going to be gaming THERE IS NO WAY a mx4000 will hack it. you will have to make another choice of card anyway because the mx4000 is AGP and you have now chosen a motherboard with PCI-E

 

[MyopicRequiem]

basically you're right. it is the same cpu at a higher clock speed. the parts you listed last that included the x2 4400+ are a pretty good choice. also as was pointed out if you are going to be gaming THERE IS NO WAY a mx4000 will hack it. you will have to make another choice of card anyway because the mx4000 is AGP and you have now chosen a motherboard with PCI-E

Ah! sorry after re-reading my post I realize I forgot to copy/paste the new video card I decided to go with.

eVGA 256-P2-N516 Geforce 7800GT CO SE 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

& it sounds as if I need to go buy an opteron 175 instead of a 4400+ that way I lose nothing if I decide not to OC (which is doubtfull but let's face it I'm not too bright sometimes)

EDIT: I'm not quite clear on the whole "steppings" thing either I just know that I should buy retail instead of OEM because I'm more likely to get a better one.

I just found this thread: http://techist.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=94908&highlight=steppings

However I'm still not quite sure how to know if you have a good stepping or not.. a lot more searching to do

 

[Nitestick]

that is a very good choice of gfx card

 

[Major Noob]

don't forget the cost of the operating system... unless you already have one.