New to Building

Welcome to the Forum:

First off: Attention all posters! LABEL YOUR LINKS! Forum regulars don't want to click each thing to see what you picked. Do it like this:

CPU:
Core 2 Duo E8400
Code use [ instead of < obv: <url=urlgoeshere>Link Text to show </url>

Don't go down the SLI upgrade path. It is a very poor one that bites you in the end. You do not for ANY reason under the sun need SLI for a 1440x900 setup! It is a complete waste of your money and offers no benefits.

So ditch the buggy nVidia chipset motherboard, and pick this one up instead:
Asus P5Q Pro P45

Change the video card to this: 8800GT G92 512MB card beat that one:
eVGA 8800GT G92 512 Use it for 90 days then trade it in for a 2xx series cards which is beat the 8800GT SLI setup anyway. Or keep the 8800GT for a while, it will smoke any game out there at the resolution your friend is going to play at.

Spend $5 more on the RAM and change it to the 4-4-4-12 kit.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231148

RAIDMAX is a piece of S*** for a PSU. Avoid that garbage like the plague.
Get a Corsair 550VX instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004&Tpk=550VX

Agreed with the duck.

I found an even better idea for the PSU:
Corsair 650TX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=650tx

After shipping and rebates are considered, it's 25 cents less than the 550VX. Similar quality, and it can do as much as 52A instead of 41A.

Gotta love Newegg free shipping  

I would add that that Sunbeam Transformer case isn't the people's choice (from the people I know lol) Although I don't have one, my friend does and he hates it worse than an ingrown toenail. He says it's just a pain in the @$$ to work with and feels like a cheap peice of $h!t. I do have the Antec 900 and I absolutely love the living $h!t out of it. It's completely worth it if you can find it under $100. I've seen some deals go by the past month or so, so if you end up saving money anywhere or have a few more to spend at the end, I'd look into the 900.

For an optical drive, consider the Samsung SH-S203B at NewEgg. It's only $26.99 + FS and a highly rated product.

The rest I either agree with shadowduck aevm or lack knowledge of Intel CPU's and Boards to comment.