Ok...is this a real DAW company? It really doesnt seem like it to me..I'll tell you why...any DAW builder knows that a 64MB video card is a no no!! That's taking too much memory away from your audio performance. Anytime you start to go over 32MB it affects the audio playback due to the video drawback resolution of the card. This will result in little pops or stutters in the audio. Also may cause your audio program to not look right.
P4's are great sure..but not all programs have been optimized for them yet.
Again, what DAW company would sell a system with a partitioned hard drive for audio recording on such an expensive system? Thats ludicrous!!! Always keep your OS and apps together and put your audio data on a completely seperate drive whether ie be another IDE drive or a SCSI drive.
If this is an audio machine solely for music production with no internet whatsoever..then why the hell would you want Norton System Tools on their?!!! Nortons only causes issues when installed and constantly running...geez!!
Next issue..2k..stay away from XP or ME or 98SE..2K is the way to go for now!!! Trust me!! I've worked on several systems, built several systems and tweaked several systems...2k is the best by far!!!
Stay away from optional software..thats why I never reccomend Dell or Compaq or any of those companies..they install way too much garbage into your system that you dont need at all. The price sounds great but something tells me you're not going to get it...not shure why you changed your screen name but I thought your original price range was under a grand....
Opus

Yeah, I was looking to stay at $1000. but the deal on the P3 system seemed too good to pass up. So I figured I'd save up for it. I actually changed my name to my "real" nickname...I didn't expect it to be available when I registered (it usually isn't) but i didn't see it on the member's list so I went for it...I'm going to see if I can get the system without the extras, add a hard drive, and have Win2000 installed (on the P3).
This is the website if you want to check it out...let me know what you think.

http://www.infinitevortex.com

Opus, if you knock the resolution down to 32M on a 64M card, will that solve the problem or does the card still access the bus and pull performance down?

What would be the max memory he can install on that motherboard? 512 seems small for host based audio.

How many pci slots?

How much will his software benefit from 2Ghz speed? It might not be much real-world improvement over a 1.3Ghz.

If answers to the above q's are positive... IMO $2050 sounds like it's worth getting, regardless of the company knowing the first thing about DAW's. The only thing I might hold out for at this point is multiple processors (like quad) at a similar price point, with the stipulation that host based fx will know how to make good use of it.

Even if you knock the "windows" settings down to 32 it doesnt matter. The Video memory is there and being used to it's full potential. 64MB video cards are meant for gaming systems. The card uses it's full amount no matter what you set "windows" to use..
Depending on the motherboard's max amount of RAM is how much you can use. Yes, 512 is a beginning and if you can go more..go for it!! Memory is cheap these days so why the hell not..plus that Asus board takes up to 2GB!!!! ya mon!!!
The amount of PCI slots is a very good point!! 5 or 6 is good but remember you really only have about 4 IRQ's to play with unless you disable USB and both Com ports within the BIOS.
I agree...the price is good but I just thought I'd give my real world opinions on their building stratagies!!
Indeed...dual processor systems are the way to go..gives you way more power especially when using plugins and/or VSTi's
Opus

Opus, have you had any experience with dual Xeon systems?

Actually...no I havent! Not many people really went for those processors..I think most people saw them as Celerons and waited for something better!! Xeons are good and all but came and went by like tuesdays breeze(hmm..isnt that a Lynyrd Skynyrd song?!!!)
Opus