I'm looking for completely new PC. I want to use it as server machine but it should also be able to handle games and developement stuff. What would you suggest?
I was thinking about AMD Phenom X4 9550 (B3) processor on some SMP board. I've read Phenom isn't much better than Intel Core 2 serie. Do you have any experience with SMP? What would you buy for yourself? Should i look in 64bit technology to be able to upgrade RAMs in future? Are there any other features of 64bit? I'd like to ommit problems related too 64 -> 32 bit stuff.
Additionaly 4GB DDR2 and 2x250GB SCSI HDD which should be able to work in RAID. I wouldn't like to spend more than 1000 € for all that things.

for a server an old machine will do, keep a recent machine for "games and developpement"
but at all costs, don't use the same computer to do both tasks

intel > amd by a lot. get an intel core 2

Basically, It's kind of pointless to have a top end cpu, a raid array and so on if you don't have the bandwidth to allow you to use this hardware.
So first, what's your network bandwidth ?
Also I agree with Epsy, better to have a smaller server (with a crappy crapy graphics card ) and a separate comp for your personal usage if you don't want to makes your server affected when you're compiling and playing (of course you will ) ...
Also you have to adjust cpu, memory, hard drive to fit your needs:
better a less powerful cpu and enough memory
about HD, SCSI drives are very expensive. Except if you need a professional raid array, a normal raid controller (included on most recent motherboard) and fast SATA drives will be cheaper and fast enough ... Also, it is a good idea to have a separate one for swap if you can.

I use to run 3 teams fortress when I was testing it on a basic comp (athlon 2400+, 512Mo memory, normal drive not even raid, nvidia motherboard graphics ...) on a ADSL 2+ connection.
Even with 12 players the hardware was good enough. But the bandwidth was not ! Connected on my laptop on the server (local network), I did not feel any lag issue while other players ping fall down ... Actually, it was good enough up to 9 players.

Conclusion: save your money, get an normal comp with a cpu fast enough, put enough memory, a good set of hard drives in it and you'll have your server. With the money you save, put a good graphic card in your current comp and you will be happy...

My old computer is very obsolete. I can save only 160GB hdd and dvd recodred from it. I guess i will use it as my firewall.
My network is only 1024/256 adsl, I'm gonna change it in a year or two (when Poland becomes better network infrastructure )
What about symmetric multiprocessing? I'd like to use VMware on that computer, will it help?
I heard 32bit architecture can handle up to 4GB of RAM memory. Is it mean i have to use 64bit for more? Does all programs can run fluently on 64bit processor?
I also heard Intel is much more expensive and the company's politic doesn't like overclockers.

mainly because overclocking breaks stuff

Again, it depends of what you expect to run on the server.
If you plan to run a arma server, you'll not be able to accept a lot of players with your current bandwidth or even with a top DSL connection.
So you'll probably don't need more than 4gb of memory which means a well balanced comp in term of cpu/memory will do the job.
About the use of a virtual machine, it is useful if you need to run another OS, or have separate environment to test different configuration (for web dev for example).
Multiboot will often do the trick for most users ...

About overclocking, it's a money eater hobby to win a few mHz You start overclocking, you're comp become instable, you buy a new fan, a new cooler, etc ... eventually you'll burn out your cpu and need to buy a new one and have spend more money than getting a comp properly sized and configured ... I know, i've done that the little improvement you'll get of it really don't deserve the problems you might face... of course the overclocking fans will say it's false

I want a box that will fit all my needs; if I want to play with blender or if I want DVD mastering stuff there, it shouldn't fail.
The computer should be high-end one, so it will be still arround top after 2 years or so upgrade won't be hard to apply.
SMP with 64bit processor(s) handled by linux (because i want features to be in use) will give me the most performance, isn't it?
Windows should be emulted on some virtual machine for stuff that needs to be run natively on windows.
I was thinking about water cooling too, maybe I'll buy it later.

I'd like to spend more money on that stuff than buy tons of hash or weed as usually...
Donation to CT is coming up soon.

I don't see the point, most dedicated server apps are available on linux


if you choose a core duo that's not really needed, dual cores have a good performance regarding temperature

Just FYI, this is my new old box (bought several months ago in a hurry )

and i just bought http://emobilne.pl/asus-ul30vt-qx002/ul30vt-qx002/product_info.php/products_id/2557