That's sounding better, not as deep and dark hole for you. May you get it all working right.

Quote - bought a full-size chassis when I built my current system, because I've got big hands and was sick and tired (after three self-builds) of scraping my knuckles on sharp edges and having to remove components such as the CPU fan just to get other ones in or out.

I agree except now most newer cases are designed better for that. My DAW/video editing/part render farm quad is in a little micro case. Velocity IW-z583. everything is toolless except the hardrive mountings but the cage itself swivesl out so you can just slide the drives straight in. 3 mounting screws and then swivel it back into place. No sharp edges anywhere. The drive cage also allows for space underneath which means I can install big cards with room to spare. The image is with the GTX 260 and you can see I have lots of room for even a bigger card and that 260 is no small card. LOL.

Quote - I would never again buy a ready-made system from a retailer.

Same here never again. Except the laptop.