Advice on Virtualization platform for home lab, $1700-$2000 budget

Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: within 2 weeks
Budget Range: 2000 after rebates, taxes and shipping
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Hosting 3-8 non-production Windows/Linux VMs
Parts Not Required: optical drive, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca, ncix.ca, any other Canadian site
Location: Toronto area, Ontario, Canada
Parts Preferences: Intel CPUs
Overclocking: Maybe
SLI or Crossfire: No
Your Monitor Resolution: 1680x1050

Additional Comments:

This is the first time I build a system since the days of 25MHz 286s, so I could use some help in making sure I'm not doing anything too stupid... Thanks in advance!

Purpose for the build is to host study/test VMs for typical Windows/Linux infrastructure, virtualization technology itself (study ESXi) and network/security products (virtual routers, firewalls, load balancers, ...), along with a very light 'production' Win7 VM for family guests, kids, ... Estimate is having 3-8 VMs running during peak usage (again, study only), with 2 or 3 two heavier consumption VMs (4-6GB RAM) and the others in the 0.5-2 GB range. Would like to have as much compatibility with ESXi as possible (support for hyperthreading and VT-d is highly desireable) but will try out other hypervisors as well (HyperV, Xen, ...).

Expected lifespan is 3 years (meaning not ripping out mobo/CPU, but adding memory or storage after initial purchase is OK.)

Some of the thinking that went into this is:
- choose new/recent components for future-proofing
- 32GB assuming 2GB HyperV host + 18GB heavy VMs + 8GB 'light' VMs. chose mobo that can go beyond 32GB (with half slots still free) for scalability protection
- use SATA III for SSD and SSD for ASUS cache offload

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BOARD: ASUS P9X79 PRO LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with USB BIOS ($307)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

CPU: Intel Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 2011 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73820 ($307)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

MEMORY: CORSAIR Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Desktop Memory Model CMZ32GX3M4X1600C10 ($207)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

SSD: Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) ($110)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

HDD: 2x Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive (2x$110)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1682...

CASE: Corsair Carbide Series 400R Graphite grey and black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case ($110)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

POWER: SPARKLE R-FSP600-80ETN 600W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified Active PFC Power ... ($116)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

CPU COOLER: ZALMAN CNPS20LQ Ultimate Liquid CPU Cooler ($90)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1683...

VIDEO: PowerColor Go! Green AX5450 512MK3-SH Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 512MB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card ($30)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...