ASUS A8R-MVPs are told to have problems, just in case you didn't know. Maybe they are fixed now, but at first they weren't that good.

I went with the MSI RD480 Neo2 FI. Cheaper and not a lot of known problems.

About the HDD, the HDDs that cost the less $$ per gig are 300GB ones.

First of all I am definitely against RAID.

Reason: The concept is that 2 drives with Striping over 2 hard drives or more increases the chance of a Drive Failure, in which you will lose all of your files. It may be faster, but with raid you really need a backup system of Tape or a backup hard drive for safe keeping.

If you spend an extra $200 on that second hard drive (More or Less) You can just spend that on the fastest video card system and faster processor.

It has been said that DDR2 Is a waste of money, with the exception of maybe overclocking.

If you are doing Dual SLI keep in mind that the X500 is due out soon. What happens is when faster video cards come out, that lowers the price of the midrange (Sometimes). I am guessing 2 midrange video cards in SLI Mode is what you are looking for.

The newer AMD processors with improved Memory Controller are probably either available or will be available soon. Speaking of Memory 2 Gigs is probably a reasonable amount. You can get by with 1 Gig buy why try.

Another option is a TV Card or an ATI All-In-Wonder Card. Some people like these but with dual SLI it is probably best to have a single TV Card or a Card With Dual Tuners, but that may not interst you. You could record video, which would mean 2 hard drives might be nice.

I suggest you look at www.anandtech.com and a few other sites to see what they are reviewing. And budget for a really large Power Supply!!!! With one really good video card and a fast motherboard and processor they were recommending about a 480W Power supply. The faster you go it seems the more power you need. So 550-600 Watts seems reasonable. Maybe 500 will do. If you add extra hard drives and sound cards and other stuff, then 600w is not very much.

The case should have good ventillation and a 120 mm Fan (or 2) that blows air accross the hard drives.

As far as monitors go, I like buying mine at Best Buy. I like some place where I can see them running and shipping a monitor seems silly to me. Last one I purchases was A Samsung 19" Tube Monitor. For the price of a 17" Flat Panel you can get a really nice 19" Tube monitor. It is all a manner of taste and style.