[Steve Clark]

G’day Jimmy,

That’s a pretty broad question. It depends on what you want to do with your Avid and how much you want to spend.

First of all, look Here.

https://www.avid.com/products/Media-Composer-Software/system-requirements.asp

and here.

https://www.avid.com/resources/qualified/MediaComposer-NewsCutter-Qualified-PC-Workstations.pdf

Avid is the best editor, but it is really fussy about what you run it on. Build your system as close as possible to the qualified PC specs as you can for the least dramas.
Personally I have been burned with Firewire & Sound cards, so get what Avid wants. Also get yourself a big monitor, you can never have too much desktop real-estate. I’ve got a full HD 24″ LCD with HDMI input at home, Dual 17″ displays at work. The latest Avid hardware also has HDMI output, so a spare HDMI monitor input is handy. If you are editing in DV or HDV you are good to go. You can capture from your camera or deck via firewire directly to your PC. I have a Mojo at home and we have Adrenaline HD at work, these are really just glorified In/Out boxes and are not necessary unless you need to capture analogue or SDI. They have an advantage with some real time effects processing but IMHO you are better off spending your money on fast storage and good supporting apps like DVDit Pro HD, Photoshop, Boris FX and Adobe After Effects.

Good luck, and good choice with Avid.

Steve