Looking for Recommendations for a future build

Hey all,

It's been a while since I posted here, but I haven't had much to discuss. My current PC is a HP DS5800, and I'm planning to upgrade the RAM in it soon. However, I'm smart enough to know that it won't last me forever, considering what I enjoy doing.

I'm planning on building a PC in the future instead of buying the next one pre-made or refurbished (like this one). I'm looking for guidelines for hardware that will serve me well to do the following tasks easily:
1) Light gaming (OpenTTD, XP games (if I can get them to run on 7 [unless someone has a better suggestion], SNES ROMs, other similar games) - also will use Raptr (mcguy there is the username if you want to follow/friend me)
2) Audio recording (podcasts and music) and playback
3) Video watching (mostly iTunes, but also DVDs and maybe Blu-rays) and recording from webcam/downloading from camera
4) Word processing and other office tasks
5) Internet browsing and gaming

Probably the most intense XP game I have is Empire Earth II or Sims or Civ IV or SimCity Complete Collection, so if you can show me a way to play them still. be sure to include that when recommending hardware guidelines I need to consider.

Thanks,
Nathan Pinno

Really, those are pretty light requirements. Is SimCity Complete Collection the SimCity box?

For #2, I highly recommend this, assuming you don't have tons of room noise. It sounds great, and is dirt cheap. I couple mine with a cheap ART preamp; I think this one.

Edit: Whoops, didn't mean to dig up an old thread.