From a IT perspective
Dual core if available Better would be TWIN dual cores or TWIN Singles

my System

2x Opterons 175 @ 2 ghz each (benchmarks at PR6800) and they are only single cores
1GB ECC DDR400 RAM
2x WD 200gb 7200 RPM on a HIGHPOINT Raid Controller Benchmarks 100-125 MBps transfer speed
1 External 500GB storage drive (Esata cable on order )

mother board ASUS K8N-DL
Rubbish VGA card needs replacing want either matrox or GREEN VALLEY

usually pc trimmings 500" PSU
19" IIYAMA series PRO monitor




any way thats a little of my spec

Dream machine

2 x quad core opterons on a dual processor board (Yes that is an 8 Core SYSTEM )
and 8 GB ram

and to think that the CPU used in terminator was listed as a 32 core processor we aren't that far away

Hard drive
PCI-X not PCI EXPRESS raid controller with 64 Bit access running 4 7200 RPM raid 0 and a 5th for parity

unless you could get a 4 lane pci express card may be comparable on speed

graphics any dedicated high def encoder cosing upwards of £600 probably conopus but i haven't researching this area yet

if anyone had this spec and isnt planning world domination with it i would love to hear from them