So the whole build went pretty well, I built it over the course of a couple of days, although I was working on some other projects, so it didn't take me nearly that long to build the PC. The only major hangup I had was that I didn't check to see if the little tabs on the I/O plate had seated properly, so I had to unscrew the motherboard for the second time (first time was a lost screw that got stuck) to get it re-seated properly. Other than that, everything went smoothly. The front port connections are always a massive PITA, but everything seems to work OK, so that's good. I had a previous PC build where I never got the front USB ports to work properly. The USB 3.0 cable is ridiculously thick and heavy, but I guess that's due to the spec's requirements for wire gauge and/or shielding. The cable management options in the case are incredible, and like nothing I've never seen. The ability to run everything behind the motherboard with a series of pass-through ports makes life a LOT easier. The case is larger than I imagined, but that's a good thing, as it has plenty of expandability and space to work.

The Seasonic Snow Silent PSU is pretty incredible. After reading the review on the [H], I was sold. It's way overkill for what I have now, but it could easily handle dual SLI cards and a bunch of HDDs, so I have plenty of room to grow. The fan comes on for a moment when first starting up, then turns off, and stays off. It doesn't seem to need the fan for a modest system like mine. The fully modular design is a joy to work with, and the included IEC cable is the thickest IEC cable I've ever seen. It probably makes absolutely no difference, but everything it comes with is built incredibly well.

The speed of the MyDigitalSSD drive is pretty incredible when installing stuff. Windows was really fast, as I got it on a USB key (much cheaper than digital download- go figure), so it flash to flash via USB 3, and that made for a very quick installation, unlike another computer I was working on where I had to install off of a DVD (I was upgrading a cheapie Dell with a cheap SATA SSD) that took forever and a half.

The only driver I had to install basically immediately was the graphics so that I could get up to the full resolution of my main monitor, 2560x1440 and get my wing monitor up and running at 1280x1024.

Intel's integrated graphics will handle 3 x 4K monitors fine. But to do that you need to daisy chain the monitors via DP, which means having monitors with 2 DP ports (you can use a monitor with only 1 DP port at the end of the chain). You only need to add a discrete card if you want to play games.

I don't think my main display can daisy chain. If I'm dropping that much dough on monitors, I think a couple hundred bucks for a graphics card to drive them would be fine. I guess it could be the end of the chain though if new monitors could daisy chain... In the forseeable future, I want to go to triple monitors, but probably not 4K or 5K monitors for a while.

Interesting topic. I have no advice, but I just realised my current PC (built according to this thread) is almost 10 years old now. I was considering a replacement or upgrade 5 years ago (discussed here), and ended up only adding an SSD. It's still my main gaming PC, although the only recent games it's running are low on graphical demands (it's still got that old HD3850).

But it lasted 10 years with very few changes, and it's still going strong (mostly Minecraft and Roblox by my son these days, and CRPGs and Crusader Kings 2 by me). I would really love another quiet 10 year PC like that (because my son is hogging this one).

As an update, the TYPC is about 9 months old, and it's doing great. The one upgrade I do plan on doing next time I move (because it's currently wedged inbetween a desk and a wall and I really don't want to take it out right now) is to go from 16GB to 32 or 48GB of RAM. Photoshop Elements is what's killing me when doing Photomerges, but I'm thinking of moving to Lightroom 6 from Lightroom 5, which does the Photomerges internally, so that may change my RAM requirements. One way or another, I'll probably bump the RAM, as programs are more likely to get even more bloated than they already are, not less bloated. Otherwise, the thing is an absolute beast, and does everything I need.

I'm also toying with the idea of a graphics card, but that will probably be on the back burner for a while, as I really don't need one right now. I currently have a 1440p monitor, and the circa 2002 1280x1024 Dell Ultrasharp. I plan on adding a third monitor as a wing, most likely a 1920x1200 Dell Ultrasharp oriented vertically, and I may eventually get two of the 1920x1200 monitors to complement my main 1440p display, and move the 2002 Ultrasharp to a lesser used secondary machine. I like the old monitor, but it's not adjustable and has bezels the size of Texas. I'm kind of drooling over the 38" Ultrawide Ultrasharp, but I really can't justify a monitor that large for what I do when it would be better served by multiple small displays.



Good to hear that you've actually had a machine last 10 years!