esxi 4.0 will work just fine on a desktop. If you want single disk SATA storage it will work just fine .. 4.0 supports sata now.
If you want raid, you will need a decent raid controler. Ebay a Dell perc 6i, or dell website (250$) It's a great controler. (this card will need to go in your gfx x16 PCIE slot)
