I'm not totally convinced this emulator (or it's population levels) requires super power to run. It seems rather sleek, with bandwidth being what chokes most people off. However, owning a real "server class" machine is very exciting. Some of my favorites are: Dell 1950/2950, those are fairly cheap and powerful. HP makes a bunch, too. Head over to NewEgg.com, search for Servers. Best bet (if you really want a server class machine) is to start with a base unit that is expandable... then add to it once you feel you've topped it off. Even then, you're looking at starting around $1500+ I believe.
For those who have a closet full of 20+ machines worth of parts (snicker), I still believe a P4 with some ram and fast HDD can hold it's own. Just split your SQL from your World and Zones... spread the work over multiple machines. Even if you make one machine do all the work, that could defeat the purpose. Most optimum and available server farms are clusters of machines, not a single - uber powerful one.
Hope this helps.
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