i want to get a new cpu and use it primarily for blender what kind of hardware should i consider? how big should an ideal processor be?
what kind of video should it carry?
Of course, the ideal processor is the fastest one out there :). Practically speaking, though, it is whatever you can afford. The more money you spend on a processor, the faster Blender will run. Something around an XP 2500+ would probably work fine and not be too expensive. As to a video card, I do not believe that the speed of the video card does much for Blender.
On the contrary, as Blender uses openGL to draw its entire interface, a good openGL capable card is crutial.
Martin
Yes, but does it actually assist with the 3d model? I was discussing this on another thread (I forget where), and people had basically said that Blender could not really harness the graphics card for rendering. Does it use it to draw the model in the 3D window?
uhhmm well… modelling gets to be a pain in the ass when you start lagging because of your slow video card 
It uses it to draw everything in the interface, not only 3D views.
Like you said, rendering is only based on the CPU though so you need to balance the two. A good CPU will give you good rendering speed, but if buying a good CPU means getting a cheap 3D card, you won’t get be anywhere.
Martin
I can contest to this. While the video card does not help with the actual RENDERING process, everything else could use a good video card. I’ve used an older card and even just on small scene, when i’d use the bevel tool it would slow WAY down. A good OpenGL card will definately do wonders for you while modeling a scene. I know I couldn’t believe the difference when I upgraded to my 128MB NVidia card. 
ive got the tnt2 64 and it is ok iffy and i have a 1.3gig celeron but im running blender on another computer also and it has no openGL what so ever standard motherboard video and a slower CPU also and it only runs slightly less better than my other computer
better as opposed to good