[The Fifth Horseman]

AFAIK, FreeDOS supports FAT-32. So does DOS 7.1.

RAM of 16 to 24 MB will do. I see in your other thread that you already have 2x8 MB of EDO RAM - get 2x4 MB sticks and that'll be your desired 24 MB (Pentium systems require paired memory... unlike 486).

As for Video card... 1 MB - at least. That's good for DOS and sufficient for most Windows games too.

If you're going for FAT-16... DO NOT USE 1 GB PARTITIONS!!! Never-ever!!! With FAT-16 filesystem, cluster size goes up to 20-30 kb. If you have few files but large ones, it'll do. If you have a smattering of small files, you'll end up with a gross waste of space. (been there, done that).

If you want to use both DOS and Windows on this machine, dual hard drives are preferable to a single one, especially if you couple that with a Midi Tower case (3x 5,25" drive bays, so that you still have space for a CD drive) and two internal drive racks (each attached to a different IDE channel). That way, you can quickly shutdown the machine, swap the racks and start the other OS.

As to soundcard compatibility... duh, my personal favorite is ESS 1887, primarily because one of them has been with me for ages and I have no reason to complain. Full Sound Blaster 2 compatibility, stereo sound, built-in volume regulation, MIDI/game port... the works. Personally, I prefer SB2 to SB16... some of the MIDI music in the games sounds way different between the two types (vide Flashback... particularly the outro).