I'm planing on upgrading to a new box at the moment I'm running Ubuntu Edgy on an Athlon 2.5gig. My main uses are internet and coding however I do use vmware server quite heavily and occasionally play games and use 3d apps such as Google Earth, I would also like to be able all the nice Compiz bling.

At the moment I've got an Nvidia card but would prefer to use open drivers as I've found it has caused problems in the past. Is Intel the only option here?

The other decision I have to make is whether to go 64bit or not, any advice on which way to go?

Well, I run a 64bit system, and I must say that the 64bit seems to be more of a hassle than anything else. Having also tried a 32bit on the same computer, I haven't noticed a huge speedup. IA32 is just generally better supported (although that gap is closing, and fast). In short - you will get some speedup by going 64-bit, but at the cost of a more complicated install. You just have to decide between a one-time install hassle or an overall, persistent slight drop in speed.