Matrox's were highly regarded for this work, 5 years ago. They haven't changed much since, and are pretty long in the tooth. You could use a P450 Matrox, but it costs nearly as much as the 6600GT, has essentialy no 3D capability, and offers no particular 2D advantage. So while you could use a Matrox, I'd surely use the 6600GT.
More ram is nearly always better, and can be run if you wish. Like I said, that is basically a practical minumum. I do pretty serious work on 1GB easily though, including printing 3+ GB documents as 13x19" 4800dpi hardcopy.
As far as the hard drives, any competent 7200rpm drive will do. While the Maxtor's interface and buffer is indeed good, the Hitachi's seek performance is distinctly better. While either will do, the Hitachi's silence, speed, 3 year warranty, and absense of heat make them very nice. Obviously 74GB Raptors would in theory also be better, but the reality is a 7k250 is a really nice drive in practice. Again, exact budgetary concerns would likely shape the decision were they made available.