Need new system please help with config

Hi

I am a graphic designer in desperate need for a new machine. Current machine is 5 yr. old P4 1.8 ghz / 1 gb ram / radeon 9700/ combo / cdrw / 15k scsi 36 gb boot disk / 120 gb Wd for storage / floppy / usb / firewire etc.

I am looking to buy a machine which will run very fast wih all uptodate software including Adobe creative suite, Quark & microsoft programs.
I have 5-10 programs running all the time & can have alot of photos & files open as well.

requirements...

1) processor - should i go with the E6xxx series or with dual socket system and get one dual core xeon with the option to later add an additional one when programs become optimized? also which one is faster dual core xeon or dual core E6xxx series? also will i have an advantage with going more then 2 cores for now?


2) hard drive - i need the fastest hard drive as this helps speed up the system in my work. i currently have the 15k rpm scsi, should i use that as boot disk or will the raptor which is only 10k rpm compare in speed since its a newer drive with newer technology? also if it is recommended to keep the scsi how will it interact with sata drives & could i use the same scsi card and ccables that i have in my other system? also for storage which harddrive will be the best?

3) ram - how much ram can i have maximum and it will still make a difference in performance levels? which brand and speeds?

4) video card - which video card is recommended for graphic design use & occassional video/movie watching? no gaming whatsoever.

all other components dont really matter for me as it doesnt improve performance, if somebody has a reccomendation on any other part of the system i am open to it. I will prob. run windows vista on it so this prob. has to have more ram etc. Money is an object, I want the system to be solid & fast for at least 2-3 years but i dont want to overpay on things which wont help performance as i want to get the best bang for the buck & if possible upgradable.

I am awaiting a reply from all of you
Thanks

budget is anywhere between $1000-$2000 my main concern is bang for the buck for example if a xeon costs 5% more but it brings me 20% more in performance i will take that eventhough its more expensive because i get more value, but lets say if there is a difference of $200 between an E6300 & E6400 which is only 200 mhz faster i would not go for it eventhough its a drop faster, same goes with the ram, harddrive & graphics card.

please explain statements like that.

to the OP.

i would suggest though that a dual core PCU along the 6300 lines, a basic gfx card as anything will do. maybe a low end x1xxx series card from ATI. ram, perhaps in your carse 4gigs would be merited as i assume you want to hae alot of data accessed quickly.

hard drives perhaps a raid setup would be a good idea. for constant throughput 2 hard drives working together are faster. i am not sure of the price of scsi disks but they are expensive last time i checked. 2 74gig raptors in raid would be cheaper i would suspect but don't quote me on that. i woild think the 150 gig ones are a bit too expensive.

i will take a look at new egg and see how cheaply i can build a good system.

I don't have to explain anything. Just take a look at his requirements.

I would honestly say, go for a Mac Pro. But wait for a while, because the revision to the Xeons are coming. And definitely get 4 gigs of ram, and i like Consair & OCZ but that's only if your working with Vista 64-Bit, XP Pro 64, or Mac OS X, if not stay with 2 gigs. And i'm graphic designer as well but i use Maya and all that. Oh, gfx, go for any ATi card in the X1x00s because for of better picture quality, i would give u the link to prove it but im too lazy at the moment to look for it on toms hardware. And definitely raid. hope that helps?