Specs for a PC - overpriced, overloaded?

2x nVidia 8800GT (512Mb x 2) ---------- $598
Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Fatal1ty Champion Series Audio (70SB046A00003) ------$200
ASUS P5N32-E SLI Socket T LGA 775 nVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Chipset----- $289
2x Kingston KVR800D2N5K2/2G 2GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 DIMM (Kit of 2) ---- $126
1x Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz Processor - 2.40GHz - 1066MHz FSB - 8MB L2- BX80562Q6600 ----- $289
500 GB ST3500641AS-RK 3.5in HDD 7200 rpm ------ $139
300 GB ST3300622AS-RK 3.5in HDD 7200 rpm -------$118
2x Lite-On 20x Super All Write LightScribe Internal DVD/Dual Layer RW Drive (LH20A1L06) ------- $90
Tagan CS-A+188AF Aluminum Scratch Free ATX Case - Black ----------- $52
Creative Inspire T6100 -------------- $80
DELL 22" Flat Panel Monitor (E228WFP) ------------$319
Logitech LX7 Cordless (PN 931515-0403) --------- 40$
Classic Keyboard 200 (PN 968019-0403)---------- $15
------------------
~$2350


tl;dr:

Video: 2X nVidia 8800GT 1GB (Total) DDR3
RAM Memory: 4GB DUAL-CHANNEL
Processor: Quad Core @ 2.40 GHz
HDD Memory: 500 + 300 GB
Drives: 2x DVD-RW DL
5.1 Creative Sound System
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
4 USB 2.0

That's what I plan on building, but I feel something's wrong. Yeah, other than the price.
If this was your PC, what would you remove / change?

At the very least leave out one of the HDs. If you need 800 GB you're doing something wrong.

Cheap Mouse At Goodwill -------- $3
Cheap Keyboard At Goodwill ----- $3
Old Monitor Found In Dumpster -- $0
The Fuck You Need 2 DVD Burners For? Besides, Lite-On Sucks -- $45
Sound Card? Sigh -- $0

BTW forgot your PSU
You're stupid if you use the 250W one no doubt included with your case

Nope, have a 800W already.

>>3
point 4: OK, let's say I remove one DVD burner. What brand doesn't suck in your opinion?
point 5: Why the hell did I put that there again? Take that away.
>>2
500 GB it is then

Anything else i'm doing wrong?

you should really look up the motherboard model you are getting and make sure they are optimized for your CPU

>>7
As far as I'm concerned, that ASUS motherboard is optimized for the q6600 C2DQ.
I did the research. That's why I attached the model numbers, in case there was a need for reference.
Though that Sound card thing I did was kinda dumb... I don't need it. Don't know what was going through my mind...

Ditch the quad and get a core 2 duo 2.6ghz

>>6
With a half-terabyte drive, both data integrity and disk access speeds are going to be a concern. Look into some variety of RAID setup.

>>10
I know nothing about RAID, except how it works. I don't know if it's a setup, a hardware component, software, etc...
I had a RAID 0 setup suggested previously, but I have no idea how to do it.
Halp?

RAID 0 will improve disk access speeds, but it requires at least two physical disks, and doesn't do anything for data integrity. RAID setups designed to just protect your data by increasing redundancy can generally work with a single physical disk, though it's always faster to use more, of course.
There are hardware RAID controllers and software RAID controllers, depending on how much money you're willing to spend.

What OS are you going to be running on this, BTW?

XP Pro. If it has any advantage over XP, Vista might be considered, though for what I've tested, Vista's just trash.
I might install Linux as a secondary OS, though.

Now, what's the difference between a hardware RAID controller and a software RAID controlled? Does it have anything to do with durability?

>>6
Good: Sony, Benq
Best: Plextor
Ok: HP, Phillips, Anything with a Japanese name (Matsushita, Tatung)
Never: LG, Lite-On

I would consider getting a cheap DVD-ROM ($10 at a swap meet) if you copy enough DVD's to make 2 drives worthwhile.

Ok, here are the updated specs, with some changes in HDD, screen, DVD Drive, etc...

----------------------
2x nVidia 8800GT (512Mb x 2) ---------- $598
ASUS P5N32-E SLI Socket T LGA 775 nVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Chipset----- $289
2x Kingston KVR800D2N5K2/2G 2GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 DIMM (Kit of 2) ---- $126
1x Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz Processor - 2.40GHz - 1066MHz FSB - 8MB L2- BX80562Q6600 ----- $289
2x WD Caviar SE16 250 GB, 3 Gb/s, 16 MB Cache, 7200 RPM (WD2500AAKS) ----------------- $160
Plextor PX-810SA - Disk drive - DVD?RW (?R DL) / DVD-RAM - 18x/18x/12x - Serial ATA------ $81
Tagan CS-A+188AF Aluminum Scratch Free ATX Case - Black ----------- $52
Creative Inspire T6100 -------------- $80
Acer AL2216Wbd 22" LCD Monitor ------------$230
BFG 800w ATX12V EPS12V Power Supply  (BFGE800WPSU)--------------  $175
Looted mouse ----------- $0
Looted Keyboard ------ $0

$2080
-------

Still expensive, but that's because I need the 4 cores and the HDD space. I went for >>14 's -Best- choice, since I recall using a Plextor once, being flawless, though that was a lng time ago. I changed the 500 GB HDD for 2 250GB WD drives - changes made for RAID0 standards.
Oh, and there's a new item there. The power supply I had was not a 800W. Hence the new addition.

Reasonable? Or can it be improved in terms of price, w/o altering performance?

gtx > 2x gt

>>16
please elaborate how a single 575 MHz, 768 MB GPU outperforms 2 600 MHz, 512 MB GPUs... I don't get it.

>>1
SLI is a waste of money
just get a single card and then get a new upper-midrange card when the geforce 9 series come out
youll be better off in the long run

>>18
Not planning on building it right now, so I'll be following this advice anyways.
Though I'm still skeptic on how is a single card (8800GTX) more efficient than 2 (Dual 8800GT). If they deliver the same performance, or only a alight difference, then yes, it is a waste of money.
Are there benchmarks on this, just to know how SLI works.
(Yes, I've never built a SLI computer before. I admit being an ignorant in some of the recent technology.)