The time came to replace the computer that had stopped working. I always wanted to build a computer, so I did. Oprah Winfrey said that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I'd like to think I was lucky, as the majority of these parts happened to be on sale. I figured there was no time like the present. Now, I know that buying a computer cannot make you cool. Fortunately, the guys at the computer store didn't ridicule me for buying this stuff so close to Valentine's Day, if you know what I mean. The assembly took a while but was mostly straightforward. The only real problem I had was installing the heatsink on the CPU, which I was temporarily convinced did not fit. It turns out it just required a lot of force... Enough that I was afraid I was going to crack the motherboard. At first, the machine was VERY unstable. I mean, it took me a few tries to get Windows installed. BIOS and driver updates solved the problem, though. I'm glad I didn't wait for the "Haswell" chip because it took, like, the 22nd BIOS update released to get this thing working properly! Oh yeah, for those of you who are afraid of Windows 8, don't be. It's fine, and no big deal. I bought a magazine that explained everything I needed to know. Another thing is that the DAZ 3D Install Manager came along at exactly the right time. Now I'm able to rebuild my content library, and it gets all the updates I never knew existed. After a few hours of downloading, I thought to myself, why am I doing this? If I can download anything that I've bought at any time, I'll just download something when I want to use it. Anyway, this isn't the best computer that money can buy, but it is one of the best computers that a certain amount of money could buy. It should last me a long time. I won't bore you with the specs unless you ask. One issue is that my "vintage" graphics tablet (an ORANGE Wacom Graphire 1 from 2000) is no longer supported. I'll have to get a new one, but that will have to wait a few billing cycles! Expect some no-postwork images until then. Overall, I'm happy with the end result and I enjoyed the experience. I'd do it again... Anyone want a new custom-built computer? Ha. If you want the experience of fiddling around with this stuff without the big cash outlay, search the web for the "Raspberry Pi". Thanks to everyone for the empathy regarding my situation. Now, back to rendering!!