I'm setting up a system to edit a very-low-budget feature, shot in HDV 720@24p. Being properly indie, what we'd do is take a friend's computer and upgrade it to satisfactory specs.
The project will generally be cuts-only, with about 12 hours of footage. Since it's not my computer, I'm not that concerned with future-proofing the system.

I figured out that at $600 I should be able to get the neccesary upgrades. Does the following seem right? Am I spending the money in the right places, not missing anything big?
I can get more budget...if it's *neccesary*.

Available system: Gateway 835GM
- Dual-core 2.8GHz Pentium D820
- 1GB DDR 2 RAM
- ATI Radeon X550
- DVD drives, basic CRT, etc.

Upgrades:
- PPro 2.0 academic license
- Aspect HD
- 20" widescreen LCD monitor (Samsung 204BW)
- 2x Western Digital 250GB 7200rpm SATA drives for RAID 1 (not 0)
- 1GB extra RAM

Your thoughts and insights are appreciated,
Drew