new to mining (i know nothing sorry)

[Koko]

Whatever you do, do not buy Cryptsy's mining contracts unless they completely hit rock bottom in price. I feel sorry for all those people who originally bought MN2 at 0.180 - 0.185btc.

[Chemistry1988]

Just buy BTC, you'll never mine 44 Bitcoins back no matter what hardware you buy.

+1.
It is better to simply buy bitcoin directly, less work, less risk.

[crocko]

Consider this to invest here too:

http://bitenergi.com/

[jamesc760]

1. Do not buy pre-order mining rigs, such as BFL.
2. Go big or go home. $20K will buy about 8 THs worth of mining hardware. Currently, it's nothing to sneeze at; however, the rising diff factor will quickly eat into your profit margin and make your THs obsolete very quickly.

Anyone who is contemplating getting into crypto mining at this point in time needs to have his head examined.

$20K is A LOT MONEY to lose. I said it. You will likely never see your $20K again.

If I had $20K, I'd buy 43 bitcoins and store them in a cold wallet for a year or two.