I would go with:

CPU - one quad-core
Memory - at least 4GB per CPU = 16GB. 32GB wouldn't hurt either.
Drives - 7200 should be fast enough. How mach space do you need? SCSI is faster but more expensive.
Raid - I would recommend it if you need some fault tolerance for HD subsystem.

>I'm not exactly sure how to quantify the load. There are two main apps that will be using the db server. The first has about 20gig of data, 40-50 users fairly consistently through the day. Maybe 95% read/query activity and 5% write.
>
>The second is about 5gig of data and is used by 10 people. Light use in general but every couple weeks there are programs run on it that run for 4-48hrs at a time. That db has poor use of indexes and inefficient programing that is outside my control.
>
>I am looking at spending under $5000 and I am sure I will be able to a machine that will more than handle these two apps, I just want to spend the money in places I will get the best bang for the buck.
>
>
>>You didn't specify what load you expect on the server. It's hard to give any advice w/o knowing that.
>>
>>>I am looking at getting a new server to run SQL 2008 Standard. It will be running Windows Server 2008 standard also.
>>>
>>>Where should I invest to get the best performance for the cost?
>>>
>>>CPU(s) - Multiple core and/or Multiple socket?
>>>Memory - up to 32GB, is it worth it to go that high?
>>>drives - 7.2K v 15K, SATA v SCCI?
>>>Fancy Raid controllers/network cards or go with onboard?