here's the situation. I added up the cost of everything i want in a new pc and it'll be @800 at the cheapest. i have a budget of $3105.55 nevermind the cents or odd cash, and that will get me a pc that's a new Antec case that looks like a spaceship (as does my current one) and a psu, 2 1Gb sticks of ram, a nice video card and all the rest you can expect for a gaming/games development computer.

however.... i can't get this computer for about one year because i don't officially have the money yet... it's sorta like a trust fund thing where i can only TAKE out $1200 until the time has elapsed on the account. {b}Buuuuut{/b} my current pc has on-board graphics, a p4 3.4 Ghz cpu or something, and 256 Mb of RAM, which it's always saying it has 128Mb of i need to continue with the game i'm making at the moment or everybody else is going to stop aswell until i get going again, but my current pc can't handle it and if i upgrade this one to 2 1Gb sticks of RAM and a pretty decent graphics card, i won't be able to afford the new pc in the LONG run....

Mind you i'm talking Australian dollars here... for some reason the Aussie anthem just flashed into my head too... hate that song...Do the two motherboards utilize the the same type of ram? If so, a small compromise. Up GRADE the current machine with a 1G stick of ram. Buy or build the new machine with 1G. Then transfer 1G from the old machine to the new machine.ah... i forgot one important thing. the stuff i'm getting for the new pc isn't supported in my old one. or i wouldn't have a problem the RAM is the only thing similar, but my current motherboard only runs 533 RAM and the one i'll be getting goes up to around the 800's You might be able to manage a different compromise or work a few extra dollors into the budget. Upgrade the existing machine with an additional 512M ram. You'll be surprised at the difference.More RAM and even an old dedicated video card WOULD help, and it'd be fairly cheap.
Not sure about how much this is in Australian dollars, but 512MB RAM here is maybe £30-£40, an old video card maybe £20.
That'd give you 768Mb RAM in all.
That'd take care of your current PC for now, and still leave you lots of cash for a good new PC later on.