can anybody link me a thread to get started on all this. All i have so far is the bitcoin wallet. Im looking to get into pooled mining but have no idea how to get started. I'm just a guy who hates bankers and the USD... Any help would be appreciated.
If you want to start mining, you should get a suitable video card - ATI's 5xxx or 6xxx series. The best ones are 5870 and 5970.
With a 5870 card you'll generate 4+ BTC per day (~3.6 BTC per day after next difficulty step, tomorrow)
List of all cards:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparisonDon't try to mine on your CPU, it's not profitable. nVidia cards are inferior, but if you have one with high hashrate it will be enough for first steps :)
Then you'll need to install ATI Stream SDK, 2.1-2.3 version, depends on your OS and miner.
Register at the pool -
http://deepbit.net (the best one, with highest efficiency).
Download and run this miner -
http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3878.0Feel free to ask for help :)