Are there any standard recommended computer hardware configuration specs ?

I was wondering if anyone can point (or provide) me to somekind of a standard recommended computer hardware configuration/specification for today's business computing environment. I am looking for something in the vein of TCO99, but for hardware configuration, and not necessarily what one should buy today among the various offering: this would be a standard specs that lasts for a few years. Is there a magazine, organization, etc, that provides such information ?
There could be a spec for network "terminal" (Ie a network PC in a secured environnement), a general purpose business PC, home PC, a standard file server, etc. May be more a qualitative spec (ie one that states what you cannot live without with modern PC) than one that specifies sizes, when that is appropriate.

For example, the 1st config would be what I would be looking for, as the 2nd has become too specific:

1st config
Dual Core 2.4 GHz
Dual Channel 1033 MHz RAM
SATA II hard drive
4X SATA DVD burner
USB 2.0 ports
Parallel port
VIdeo card with dedicated 256 MB RAM

2nd config (too specific, name for illustration purpose, may not exist, and looks like more a spec of what one should buy today as a power unit)
Intel Core2Duo 4.8 GHz E35300
4096 Corsair DemonSpeed 2000Mhz RAM
10 USB 2.0 ports
250 GB SATA II Seagate 7200.15 HDD
ATI Radeon X8888 256 MB video card
4X/52X DVD-R/RW/+R LG drive

A search on Google only points to the standard config of various organizations (mainly universities), which basically applies to their environment.

Thanks