I am about to build a new system, budget of about $2,000. I could go a bit higher if warranted. I would classify my knowledge level as "just enough to get myself in trouble" - a friend is going to actually build it for me.
 
I'd love some advice/criticism/suggestions from the pros here.
 
Antec P190 Case/Power Supply
EVGA 780i ATX MB
Intel E8500 Core 2 Duo, 3.16 M
EVGA 8800 GTS G92 (or 2, for SLI?)
Barracuda 720.11 HDs
Zalman 9700 NT CPU fan
4 Gigs Mushkin DDR2
Philips SPD6104BD LightScribe DVD Burner
 
Many thanks!

at your budget, get 8 gigs

SLI is really more hassel than it's worth

780i is a bad choice, if you want the ability to go SLI get the 790i.

Around the end of the month ATI should be releasing their new video cards and from the reports I've seen they should be quite good.  If I were you I would be looking at a X38/X48 board due to their better overclockability and stable performance.

I just bought the E8400 and the Rampage Formula and it's a great combo, something you might want to consider.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3208
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131284

Or if you really want to spend some money you can get the soon to be released Rampage Extreme which is the same board with support for DDR3.