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So, its clear from looking around in various stores the trick to buying a serious desktop is to shop around for separates and custom build your machine from scratch. This is an area i know little about, anyone care to post a list of parts they would consider make up their dream machine?

I always build my own.. as far as parts goes, it completely depends on what you want to do with the machine.
One thing for sure, you don't save money building your own but you get exactly what you want.

Note: Including bragging rights.

So if you were about to build a new machines for yourself, what sort of parts would you go for? Is there a particular processor you like? etc

Again, personal preferences are exactly that. If you're seeking professional advice, that's what PC World Reviews and others like it are for ...

Nah, im not looking for pro advice, i am just interested what individuals go for, like anyone else i can read a hardware review. Its not always reviews that count, for example, i could go out and spend £1000 on a pc, but i would still buy a £2 wire mouse, i like them.

For a basic modern system you should be looking for a board that will take a DUAL CORE cpu .. Intel vrs Amd age old argument has to be users perferance really. Boards my favourites tend to be DFI motherboards mainly aimed at gamers because of their overclock capacity but as standard they make for a brilliantly stable board. DDR2 memory by todays standards you want a minimum of 1 gig preferably more. Hard drives on this kind of setup would be sata preferd but most have IDE capability. PSU go high end it allows for any future hardware upgrades such as GPU, Optical Drives ect ect min of say 650w depending on min power requirements of the complete system. GPU all depends on the systems main use or function if your a gamer then you want a dedicated graphics core ( card ) if not then onboard should suffice, perfectly average passtimes such as browsing, email ect should not stress a modern GPU be it dedicated or onboard. This pretty much covers the main components required .

Dual Core Cpu
Suitable Motherboard
Sata Hdd
DDR2 Memory
High End PSU

Things such as sound, firewire are optional extras and could easily already be incorperated into your choice of board as standard it all really depends on your budget. This is a really sketchy guide with no prior knowledge of the systems intended use. In this day and age purchasing any system with lower specs than aforementioned in my current opinion is a waste of money.