1) Consider a bigger hard drive. 20GB hard drives are still pretty much dirt cheap ($130 or so). Make sure it's 7200RPM as well. I've heard many good things about Fujitsu, so if that's what your dealer sells it's no problem.
2) Consider a PIII system instead of AMD. We don't need to get into a huge debate over which is worse or whether all of the compatibility options have been sorted out. Just know that in the past there have been problems with AMD chipsets and certain audio hardware...and even if the problem wasn't really due to the AMD chipset, the audio manufacturers would blame it on that anyway. Personally I have nothing against the Athlon series of processors and the newer chipsets.
3) The motherboard is the key component in any DAW and will really make or break you. Make sure to find out which motherboard (make/model) you're getting. Make sure the motherboard has NOTHING integrated, and I mean nothing. No integrated networking, modems, video cards, sound, etc. When you find out, post the make/model here and we'll be able to help you out.
All in all, it looks like you're on the right track. A fast processor, a fast & large hard drive, ample memory, and a stable motherboard are all key to running a successful DAW.
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P.S. You might verify that any hardware you purchase is compatible with either NT4 or Windows 2000. You might run 95/98/ME right now and be completely satisfied....or it could drive you insane like it has with many of us, in which case you may choose to upgrade to an NT system, or dual boot between NT and 9x. See the nice thing about NT is that it's more stable...certain applications run better in NT (especially n-Track), and even when applications run poorly, they won't knock the operating system out. NT systems are also *supposedly* up to 30% more efficient when it comes to hard drive usage. The downfall is that several audio hardware (namely soundcards of course) manufacturers only support Windows 95/98/ME. Planning planning planning...it can be a real pain!
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The reason I say all this is that if you buy good quality, well designed hardware the first time....you'll have SOOO many more options down the road. Good luck to you!
Slackmaster 2000
