Well my old pc in my study office is near its end and this is the system I am thinking of going with using Win7, now I am not to sure of 32 bits or 64 bits, consider some programs I still use may not fit well with a 64 bit system.
AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.2GHz AM3 Quad Core 125W CPU w/ 6MB L3 Cache
Quad (4) Core
Socket AM3
3.4GHz Speed
6 MB shared 48-way associative L3 cache
MSI 785GT-E63 4xDDR2 ATX Socket AM3 Motherboard w/ DVI
Socket AM3
AMD® 785G+SB710 Chipset
4 GB DDR3 667/800/1066
16GB Maximum Memory
Gigabit LAN
DVI, HDMI and VGA Ports
ATX Form Factor
Audio: 7.1 Channel Realtek
This should do nice for my music, Videos, power points and what not.
Jimbo1
Not sure on whats current so can't say much, but you do have an important choice to make, I'm sure your aware that with 4gig of ram + you will need a 64bit OS to utilise it fully, that said 64bit is the way to go, BUT, if you use software not 64bit friendly then it's a trade off, my best advice would be try and find out if the software you need runs on 64bit, if it doesn't, try and find an alternate to use, which would mean you could max out the ram as needed and get the full benefit, hope you get the solution you need.
Not sure on whats current so can't say much, but you do have an important choice to make, I'm sure your aware that with 4gig of ram + you will need a 64bit OS to utilise it fully, that said 64bit is the way to go, BUT, if you use software not 64bit friendly then it's a trade off, my best advice would be try and find out if the software you need runs on 64bit, if it doesn't, try and find an alternate to use, which would mean you could max out the ram as needed and get the full benefit, hope you get the solution you need.
My old system was a:
P43.0 GHZ processor
2Gb Ram
120 GB HD
Windows XP SP3
I'm sure your aware that with 4gig of ram + you will need a 64bit OS to utilise it fully, that said 64bit is the way to go, BUT, if you use software not 64bit friendly then it's a trade off.
Thats the problem I am facing, my Bible study programs, Sermon Programs, Study Guides and other church related software for my ministries is not well lets say up to date and no support for a 64 bit environment. Many of these programs were first generation software for early windows 98 or some backwards compatibility and borderline Dos environment stuff, I am talking over 14 years of files and writings and what not.
Not going to beat around the bush here, but not that well versed of possible dual booting to xp on the old drive or booting to 7 on the new drive, not even sure if I could pull that off or not, or is it possible to slave the old drive and run these programs in a xp setting with a Win 7 os system?.
Its like I am facing a catch 22 type thing here, lose years worth of data for faster speed for newer stuff, or lose speed and processing power for slower stuff and the really bad trade off is xp is a dead horse that has to be taken out to the pasture and well you get my drift.
as far as i'm aware most 32bit programs should work just fine on a 64bit os,
i think problems usually occur(there are other reasons too) when it's actually a 16bit program running on a 32bit os that your trying to run on a 64bit os/hardware.
if you do find you have a programs that don't work on the 64bit os, then there are always things you can do to get them working, maybe run them on a virtual pc for example, dual booting xp is an option too and not hard to setup.
go 64bit os.
convert all old data to newer formats/programs as soon as possible too, so you don't lose any of it.
The big problem with early 32bit programs is that they often still have 16bit code in them. Because 16bit is compatible with 32bit systems, it saved code writers having to completely re-write for a 32bit OS. Only some of the code had to be re-written. However, 16bit It is not compatible with a 64bit OS which won't read a 32bit program with ANY 16bit code in it.
If you have early programs you really need Jimmy, I'd be vary wary of going 64 bit. A PC is just a tool, so build what you actually need, not something that might turn into a headache
What I would consider though, is one of those new flash hard drives. The 80GB is fairly cheap now ($130 here in OZ). I'd back that up with a large 2nd standard hard drive for Data. You will notice a much faster PC, that's for sure.
The big problem with early 32bit programs is that they often still have 16bit code in them. Because 16bit is compatible with 32bit systems, it saved code writers having to completely re-write for a 32bit OS. Only some of the code had to be re-written. However, 16bit It is not compatible with a 64bit OS which won't read a 32bit program with ANY 16bit code in it.
I know thats why I posted this.
If you have early programs you really need Jimmy, I'd be vary wary of going 64 bit. A PC is just a tool, so build what you actually need, not something that might turn into a headache
My thoughts still is setting up dual boot, xp and Win 7 64. Many of my older pc programs with all my writings and what not. Just 1 tho has the 3.5" floppy disk to start the process of the install. The others I have the saved data files on a 320 GB WD USB drive is where all my backup's are.
Most of my newer programs I run on my laptop Win 7 32 bit and sure it will run on 64, just like I said my main hard core ones are not, they were written for 98se. So I may try dual booting options. Called and looked for an updated software but many of my study programs are no longer sold.
This sounds like a plan and may give it a shot. Once I finish building my wife's porch and see how much money left over, going to order the Mb and try the dual boot options, what the heck if it does not work it will not work and would be a good learning tool. Been a long time I have set up a dual boot system plus I can keep the old pc in the room with that old program in it and scout around for one closer to it.
Jimbo1
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convert all old data to newer formats/programs as soon as possible too, so you don't lose any of it. 
