Okay, I've finally learned enough, I think, to get the parts together for a nice setup. Parts list: Chaintech 7NIF2 MB, Sempron 2400+, 512MB, 400GB Seagate, Nvidia FX5200, Hauppauge 350 & 500 w/remote, Antec NSK2400 -UK case/power supply, NEC DVD burner.
'Main thing, will this be enough "horsepower" for this system ?
Okay, any opinions, suggestions, whatever really appreciated.

PS: Hmmm, looks like I blew it with the processor; 'gonna' take a Duron or Athlon....oh well, hopefully I can find a good deal on one...

You really need to state your goals.
In my case, I wanted to be able to playback ATSC HD 1080i, while recording two HD shows at the same time. So I essentially needed a Dragon spec.

Okay, I had stated that in a different post, but basically, I would like to be able to record 2 programs while watching a 3rd.
In the future, I'd like to be able to control the system from 2 other TV's, but that can wait for the time being.
I'd also like to go with rf remotes on the other TV's, but again, that's a future project.
However, I appreciate your reply, as I don't want to have incompatibilities with hardware that will just create problems in the future.
'One reason I'm attempting to go slow with this project.

SD or HD programming? SD or HD TV (hardware)?

As Thornsoft implied, if you have any plans for HD now or in the near future, your box isn't strong enough.

If you plan to just do SD programming from a cable line and plan to simply output it to a 32" TV or similar, then you are good to go with that setup.

And if you do go to HD, that setup would be fine as a backend with the HD tuner, but it is too weak to playback HD content reliably.

My backend is an Athlon XP 2500+ and it works great to record 2 analog channels from a PVR500 and also an HD channel from a HD5000 as my frontends are playing back the video. Works great, yours should too.

Now, I can playback the HD content on my Almost'O Dragon but my smaller front ends can't come close. And the SD content from the PVR500 looks pretty poor on my 55" HDTV.

YYMV

'Sorry about that. SD for the time being, and probably for the foreseeable future, as I have 2 36" TV's that I didn't have sense enough to spend an extra $100 or so to get HD, so I'm pretty much stuck on that point.
I'm going to be looking into other setups for the backends. I have an Abit NF7 -S2G, but unfortunately, that's a little different than the -M model, so I'm not sure regarding using that motherboard.

Stay away from SATA disk and Via chipsets on the Motherboard. Those are the two big donts that I see mentioned often. (although I am using a sata disk on my backend...it just took a couple "tier 2" type steps to get it going) If you want an "out of the box" experience, make sure you get pata disk.

Your config looks good to go. I doubt you'll have issues. The stuff looks pretty standard, normal, and well supported. It should have plenty of oomph to record and playback your SD content the way you want it to. Have fun!

For the info & advice. I ordered some of the equipment today from Newegg, so I should be up & running by this weekend [aren't I the optimist !!].
Honestly, thanks guys (& uh, girls, if that's the case), for all the info and input.