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