Speccing a new box

Hi guys.

Its been a while since I have posted here. I am looking into getting a new machine and am considering going the self build route. Now I am not that hot on hardware as my background is s/w development so I am hoping someone could give me some advice.

Before anybody can give me any advice, you will need to know what I want to use this machine for, so in a nutshell.

-In short, run my business. I am a systems developer
-Store all my files
-Be a file Share
-Connect to from other machines via remote desktop
-Run SQL Server and other high end server app for development and evaluation
-Run IIS for dev Web sites
-Run Virtual Servers/PCs
-Develop in Visual Studio 2005+
-.Net 2/3
-Create music

So what do I need to create a machine? I can think of the following parts.

32 bit/64 bit
Motherboard
CPU
Memory
Disks
Raid
Power
Cooling
Sound Card
Video Card - Must be able to plug in 2 monitors
Case
Network Card

O/S - I will be subscribing to Empower so Iwill have access to all Windows server systems as part of my subscription

Can anybody give me advice on the way to go for the specs that I have provided?

What is better - 32 bit or 64 bit?
I have no idea about motherboards and what is required in this sense. Do I go for a dual core processor? Which models would people recommend?
I am thinking that I should go for 4gig memory minimum. What type of memory ( things have moved on from the Amiga;))
I would like some type of Raid formation - preferably hardware so am looking at three hard disks. Perhaps 3 * 250gig. What types of drive should I look at?

This is a starting point and I would appreciate any advice as to hardware and costs. If anybody could point me to links to ready built systems that they think could fulfill my requirements, that would also be appreciated.

Many Thanks

CPU: You should definitely get a 64-bit processor, for forward compatibility reasons. You don't need to run a 64-bit OS; you can use a 32-bit one if you find you have any driver or software issues running in 64-bit mode.

I'm looking at one of the Intel quad-core CPUs for my next upgrade. I will probably get the Q6600.
CPU charts
The Intel ones prefixed with Q are the quad-cores.
AMD is coming out with their own quad-cores soon too, so you might want to wait and see if that affects pricing at all.

Motherboard: Not hugely important. Find one that has the right chipset for the CPU that you pick, and supports DDR2 or 3 (see next point).

Memory: DDR2 is the standard now, and probably will be for a while. DDR3 support is good for forward-compatibility; I think most motherboards support it.
2 gig is probably the sweet spot; I'll probably go for about 4. 8 is the maximum on most boards, but I've not seen any 2-gig chips yet (haven't looked very hard though).

Disks/RAID: I am no expert here; all that I can tell you is that striping increases performance and redundancy increases failure tolerance. RAID 5 or 0+1 is probably a good setup if you want both; this would depend on how many drives you choose to go with.
SATA is the ubiquitous standard now; SCSI is expensive, but better if you want ultimate performance.

Power: Get a unit from a well-known brand name, such as Antec or Hiper. I have a 730W unit, which is ample for almost any task.
Try and get a 'modular' unit if you can; these dramatically reduce cable clutter in your case.

Cooling: Stock fans are fine; it is more important to find a case with good airflow. Antec and Coolermaster are a couple of good brands. Lian Li have an excellent reputation, but are relatively pricey.

Sound card: No opinions. (I use onboard sound — don't laugh!)

Video card: Most have VGA+DVI outputs which will let you plug in two screens. If you want more then you will need to go for either an SLI setup (two identical cards linked together) or have a primary card plus a cheap expansion one.
VGA Charts

Case: see Cooling

Network card: consider this functionality when choosing the motherboard. Most have at least one NIC. Go for gigabit for forward compatibility, even if you don't have a gigabit LAN set up.


I hope that helps. I am fairly out of touch with the hardware 'scene', but that is all based on advice I got recently for my own planned upgrade.