[Edi]

Capnq, you will actually want to buy an external 4-port DLS router/switch if your finances are up to it. A basic model should cost somewhere around $40 to $50 and a WLAN-enabled no more than $100. I work tech support for a major ISP and believe me when I tell you that internal DSL modems are nothing less than bastard hellspawn nightmares.

They're quite fine and dandy as long as there aren't any problems, but the second something manifests, you're up the creek without a paddle because it's usually impossible to tell if the problem is with the modem, with the computer in general or with the actual DSL line unless something in the network is obviously at fault (such as a DSLAM going down or not being reachable from operations).

An external DSL modem uses the network card to connect to the computer to the modem, so from the computer point of view, it acts like any other network connection. Any problems can be easily isolated to either computer, DSL modem, the connecting cables or the actual network (which is the responsibility of the ISP, the rest are on your own head).

I've heard enough about various US ISPs that I guarantee you that if you have an internal DSL modem, they will refuse to give you any tech support whatsoever and will insist that the problem is with your modem and computer until you have it analyzed by some qualified computer repair professionals, out of your own pocket.

As for what kind of a DSL modem you should get, I recommend a Telewell if you can get it. That may be difficult to find in the US, as it's a Finnish company and mainly operates here, but they make really solid products these days, unlike the old days when they were known as Telehell in some tech support circles. Zyxel DSL modems are solid, easily configurable and not liable to give you crap in any way. Stay the hell away from D-Link, though, those boxes are the spawn of everything unholy and then some.

As far as computer specs go, this thread almost embarrasses me. I had a 500 MHz Celeron system up until a year ago when it finally burned out. It survived a lightning strike, a couple of blown capacitors and two burned out coils (literally, the motherboard was scorched around them and the wiring crumbled to dust on touch) which I replaced (and needed a hammer and a nail to actually remove the last bits of the other one so I could solder in the replacement) as well as one CPU socket failure. It was one of the Abit double processor boards and it was a very good computer.

The replacement rig is state of the art as of one year ago, with Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 350 GB HD and an Nvidia 7900GT graphics card. The performance is almost ridiculously over the top for most of the games I play, I can basically amp everything to the max and not see a hit. Except in Dominions 3...