What is a good "Work Now, Play Later" system?

I will be building a system from scratch within a month or two. I don't know much about the hardware of this generation so I've been reading all sorts of guides and reviews but I'm still a bit confused.

I intend to use the system to host multiple VMs, to encode video/audio, and some video editing at first. Toward the end of this year, I'd like to beef it up and use it as a gaming system as well. I want at least 1080p, but perhaps I can get away with onboard video until then?

I need a starting point. I know that I should get lots of RAM for this system, but what CPU? Would an i7 benefit me a lot for virtualization and encoding?

In regard to gaming, what is a good size for a 1920x1080 native resolution? I'm guessing 24" is ideal.

Also, are there any recommendations for good all-around mice, keyboards and speakers?

The i7 CPU's excel in exactly the type of workloads you're looking to accomplish. Depending on how many VM's you plan to host, you might want to step up to 12GB. What is the intended budget for this build?

Not for VM's (Virtual Machines). You can assign a set amount of RAM to each VM. You could run 3 VM's with 4GB assigned to each one with 12GB of RAM. You'd run out RAM in a hurry if you were trying to run multiple VM's on a machine with only 6GB of RAM.

Thanks shortstuff_mt, i was sorta confused.

What's your budget and what country are you in ?

Ok smart arse, I missed that post.

on a side not, I hate doing Canadian builds...they always get hit with those big time shipping cost and taxes so you never know what the actual cost is in the end. But...I'm bored and still unemployed....