Which part of the process uses PC resources?

[RazorBoy]

Rookie, here. I'm about to buy a PC & make it a DAW. I'll only be recording one or two tracks at a time, but may end up with a dozen or more tracks to mix. I'll be recording real & virtual instruments. Which part of the process puts the most demand on computer resources? Knowing this will help me decide which computer to buy.
Thanks for any advice.

[Justin]

Recording multiple tracks requires fast dedicated hard drives.
You'll want to have a dedicated drive for just the audio you are recording.

When you mix everything, depending on the plugins you use, the load will mainly be on your CPU and RAM.

You may want to consider one of our Creation Station line of machines.
We've done lots of research to pick all the components with DAW compatibility in mind. So you won't have any suprise compatibility problems when you go to install your interface and software.

You can check out the lineup here:
http://www.sweetwater.com/creation_station/