Need a hybrid system

[Eiolon]

I'm in an IT position where I need to do a little bit of everything (aren't we all), so I want to build a system that will help me keep current with various technologies and learn new ones.

Things I'd like the system to be able to handle:

- Games (Diablo 3 and WoW is about it)
- Virtualization
- Cisco labs
- MSSQL
- Visual Studio
- Most Adobe products (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere)
- Possible Mac OSX (I really need to learn Mac so not sure if I should dual boot, get a separate system or virtual environment)
- Possible Linux install (same as above)

I also want storage a storage solution. I was thinking a couple of 1TB hard drives mirroring each other.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

See above.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

I'd like to stay at $1,500. Taxes and shipping included. Hard cap is $2,000.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

Arizona

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

Case, cpu, ram, hard drives, power supply, video card

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Dell 2407 monitor

6) Will you be overclocking?

No

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?

1920x1200

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

Order next Thursday

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.

USB 3.0 would be nice, really relying on advice for the rest based off my needs above

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?

Yes, 64-bit Windows 7
Will have to buy Mac OSX.

 

[oROEchimaru]

get 8gb of ddr2 or ddr3, and quadcore or greater system for win2k8 testing, vmware etc.
-that can be used for sql server, dns, ad, server practice
-for videocard: budget, 6770 amd card, 150$ get 6850, if nvidia get 550 or better on a budget.
-get a 500-600w psu if your not buying an outrageous videocard setup
-you can build a pc with the o/s for under 1200$

-you can then dual boot to windows 7x64 for gaming.

mac osx doesnt install on windows pcs, so you would need to either run it virtually in some sort of vmware environment or need to buy an intel based pcs/laptop, research this, then install windows 7 and win2k8 on this instead, most likely being much more expensive going the mac route.

vmware mac option:
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Vmware

LION is the newest osx which has some different folder structures than the previous version.

 

[SpeedyVV]

Case, Pick one from dani's list.
cpu, 2600K and OC
ram, 16G for like a $100. In you use case you can use it all.
hard drives, 2T WD Black, + another 2x1T slower HDD

But whatever you do, go yourself a favour and get a 2nd monitor, even a cheap one.
For learning stuff, one screen to work on, 2nd for reference material. it is a essential.

 

[Dangman]

$440 - Intel Core i7-2600 CPU + MSI Z68A-GD55 Intel Z68 ATX Motherboard
$85 - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series F3-10666CL9Q-16GBRL 4 x 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM
$270 - XFX HD-695X-CNFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card
$135 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive + Corsair 650TX V2 650W PSU
---
Total: $930 shipping.

Choose your own case. I recommend these cases:
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance nVidia Edition ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 White ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Silver Arrow ATX Case
$130 - Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium Grey ATX Case
$140 - Antec Performance One Series P183 V3 ATX Case
$140 - Cooler Master HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$140 - Lian Li PC-9F ATX Case
$140 - Silverstone RV03B-W ATX case
$160 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$160 - Silverstone RV02B-W ATX case
$170 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$178 - Silverstone RV02B-EW ATX case
$190 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B ATX Case
$240 - Lian Li PC-A71F Black ATX Case
$270 - Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Full Tower ATX Case

Out of curiosity, why 2 x 1TB drives in RAID 1?