Spec check and a couple of questions

[AssaTM]

Ok so, these are the specs I'm aiming for, I just wanted to check everythings in order before I ask the questions

Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail (CP-128-IN)
Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-061-GI)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) (MY-058-GL)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB ST3200820AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-085-SE)
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-053-CO)

Ok well I think I pasted everything, I just wondered if there was any way to cut down the price a bit? perhaps a cheaper GPU for around the same performance? Any tips will be appreciated on any component

and also, whats the difference between a 8mb/16mb cache on a HDD? sure that may sound stupid, but I mean, is the difference noticable? cuz the price increase to 16mb is basically nothing, and that seems to be the only difference from what I can tell/I have read anyway

and the last question is, how comes I never see anyone adding a cd/dvd drive to there setups? they just use previous components for that I assume?

Many thanks anyway

 

[burtie]

You could go for an X1800XT 256mb as this would save you £50.

As for the disk drive It's the cache on the drive - it's used to temporarily store data while reading and writing, and provides improved performance. The bigger the cache, the better so 16mb would be better.

I`ve had my dvd+rw in 2 rigs now its not something i update very often as long as it still burns its good for me.

 

[AssaTM]

Alright thanks, i've also noticed the case comes with optional fan slots, but do they improve cooling at all? i've seen from pics that one of them is just in front of the HDD bay I believe, and all it seems to do is increase air flow?