Good stuff posted here, here's my two cents:
1. A large monitor that is well built--Dell LCD monitors usually are (<3 my Dell 20" widescreen 1680x1050)--is a must. You're going to be staring at this for many many hours, so choose wisely. And Athenian's point about resolution on large monitors is a bit moot--you can drive a large monitor at a lower resolution just fine, might look a little pixellated (assuming you put the LCD in "stretch" mode) but I've never been bothered by that.
2. Quality sound card is a must--it's not so much the bit level of the sound as the quality of the DAC chip onboard. I've never been happy with any onboard sound, but my Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS is a damned good sound card for listening to music or anything game-related -- very clear sound all the way from bass to treble. Likewise, quality speakers go along with this, though most stuff works well (I'm using a cassette/radio/CD/aux input receiver, set to aux mode, with a pair of large 3-way bookshelf speakers attached--think one of those personal music systems you buy for ~$150 at Best Buy)
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