I'm building this system for a professional audio editor. His requirements are very specific.

-He'll be using Sonar 5 for now, 7 when he gets it.
-64 bit vista is probably the way he'll go.
-All projects will be stored on external hard disks he already has, so the disk space the unit needs is minimal.
-must be silent
-needs dual displays, resolution doesn't really matter. would like 19", must be 4:3 aspect
-will do video editing in the future
-would like 8GB of ram, but 4 is okay if price demands
-must be done for $800-900
-must use intel processor
-optical drives unnecessary

This is the rig I've got cooked up.

CPU: Intel q6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017

RAM: 2x2x2GB G.Skill (yep, 8GB for those of you who can't multiply)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231122

GPU: Radeon 3850
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814129101
can be cheap, doesn't matter a lot, dual display required.

MB: Gigabyte ds3l
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128059
overclocking a possibility in the future when the power is needed

PSU: OCZ 700w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341002
has a good rebate

HDD: 200gb wd sata II
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136225

Chassis: centurion from cooler master
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119068

CPU cooler: the 9700
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835118019
he wants it. he doesn't like stock coolers.

Monitors: hansg dual 19" 1280x1024
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824254017

This adds to $1208. Little high, but I'm going to talk to him to make his price cap go higher.

Possible cuts:
the 8GB of ram to 4GB
Cheaper GPU
Smaller, cheaper PSU? (no lower than tier 2?)

Anyone got any ideas for those cuts? Or maybe different parts all together?

Alternate Case/PSU options: Antec NSK6580 Case & Earthwatts 430W PSU $110 or Antec Sonta III case & Earthwatts 500 PSU $130
Alternate GPU: ASUS SILENT HD 3650 512MB $50 after rebate
4GB RAM now.
Not much room to cut costs further. Except the Zalman 9700.

Maybe avoid LCD monitors with built in speakers?

Antec NSK6580 review: http://blog.isecore.net/2007/12/29 [...] -nsk-6580/