My build is complete, so here's how it went.
The Fractal R4 is indeed a heavy case. Very solidly built, plenty of room, easy cable management. There are only two bad things I can say about the case. One is that it only included 8 motherboard mounts instead of 9 like it said on the package, but I only needed six, so I don't even really care. The other is that I have no idea what some of the cables in the case are for and they aren't labeled, so the documentation could be improved. It is indeed built like a tank, and if I ever got into a fight with this case, the case would win.
Due to the age of my previous machine, I would imagine you guys would find my reaction to the processor entertaining. After unboxing it, I take out the fan and think, "okay, this is just a fan, where the hell is the processor?" It's wedged in the cardboard packaging around the fan, so I end up thinking, "this little piece of shit is a processor?" No trouble at all installing it.
The HSF was difficult to install, but I would assume most of that was my own ignorance and inexperience. I will still maintain that whoever designed the retaining bracket is a cruel, cruel person. I did a POST outside of the case and spent far too much of it figuring out how to install the damn thing. The documentation included could be improved for new user friendliness.
RAM is RAM. Installation of RAM hasn't changed.
The 760 is a nice graphics card. I've never installed a fresh card, but it was simple enough, no problems.
I was delaying on buying a power supply, but through some divine fortune, I was able to snag a SeaSonic SS-660XP2 for $80 post-rebate. 660W is an excessive amount of power for my build, but hey, 80+ Platnium fully modular SeaSonic. (My original build had me paying more for a not as good PSU.) This thing comes packaged like it's for a king. Fully modular, hybrid fan mode, fancy packaging, cloth pouches, cable pouches. Working with this power supply was a pleasure. I thought it would be difficult since I've never built before, but it wasn't at all, inside or outside the case.
So, after a while, I figured out which pins to short on the motherboard to do a POST. I was afraid I had screwed up somewhere, but it went well. It was the most excited I ever was about a system not being able to finish booting.
So then, onwards to installing in the PC. Took me awhile to stop being a newbie and mount the motherboard correctly. My case has a dust filter and spacers at the bottom, so I could point the power supply fan down. Routing cables to the motherboard was easy, the case is very well set up and easy to manage. Power routing was also simple, thanks to the wonderful full modularity of SeaSonic. Mounting the CD drive was easy. My reaction to the SSD was similar to that of the processor, though not as dramatic because I know flash drives can pack that much data into a similar space anyway. Very easy to mount inside the R4 as well.
Final build:
Decided to go without an HDD, might add more storage later. (second SSD for RAID backup?) Can possibly add a second video card later. (I sure do have room on the power supply, lulz.) Might try a sound card as well. Going to have some EggPoints to spend on something.
Thanks to everyone on SEN who helped with the build!
Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Aug 9 2014, 4:46 am by Mini Moose 2707.