[Will]

The Core 2 Quad chip isn't worth it. In most benchmarks the Duos beat the pants off of it, and it doesn't really offer any better multitasking performance. I would bump it to a Duo E6750 instead, at $194.99; that brings total to about $600 plus tax, and leaves only video card, optical drive, and case. For optical drive, Lite-On is pretty much the best value out there... basically same exact thing as Sony drives, only 10-20% less expensive. A good burner is about $30-35. Video card... take your pick, from the $125-225 range. And don't cheap out on the case. It really depends on what kind of look you want, but general rules: the less plastic the better, well established compartments for PS, MB, and HDD makes your life much easier, and you do NOT want to use any fans that may come with the case (buy at least two separately). A decent case will probably run you $60. You're better off going for the ones that are closer to $100+. Lian Li's are excellent.

And I'll second the suggestion to go for a nice monitor; you can get a nice 19" for almost $150 these days, and 22" for a bit over $200. 24" and 30" are still really expensive ($600-1200), but you won't know how you lived without once you try them. But that is beyond your budget, so just something to think about.