I have been running the original BETA just fine on the following system:
Core i7 965
Rampage II Extreme mobo
6GB Corsair DDR3
1 x Intel SSD-E
2x Seagate 1.5TB in a RAID mirror
GTX 295
PATA CD/DVD
I intially had a few issues with the BETA install and my onboard HDD controller is in RAID...