you need a 64bit OS to run 8GB of RAM, but you probably already knew that
as for what i have...
intel core2 quad Q9300 @ 2.5GHz
8GB DDR2 ram, 800MHz
some ati graphics card... 4580? i dunno... i forget, whatever one came out last last year around september/august
and windows 7 64bit pro
i previously had 4GB and i watched my ram after upgrading to 8gb and i just saw my computer suddenly use just over 4 when i opened up a scene
but yeah, more ram means you can do more inside maya provided it supports 64bit stuff, well... you can do more stuff with less waiting around waiting for things to process
don't know any hardware configuration to run maya on.
that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"
Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D