Hi Soar,
Yes it was a bit of an epic wasn't it ? Still you learned a lot from the experience and that is never wasted. We did get it going in the end though didn't we. 
DM,
Yes, thanks to your expert help, we finally did get this system up and running and as I mentioned, it appears to be running flawlessly! No way I could have done it without you and that is for sure.
Maybe I need to be more positive...
My struggle is I have difficulty forgetting the frustrating process during that initial build. Perhaps that is my weakness. It also shook my confidence that building a computer can be fun, enjoyable, and successful with a very small amount of troubleshooting!
The worst part of all was the anxiety I experienced: every time I turned the computer on, I was not sure if it would work...and that was the worst part of all for me.
I wish my brain worked differently...but it is difficult for me to forget all those weeks of frustration and anxiety. That was the first time I struggled for weeks with a new build and as I said before, it shook my confidence and at the time, I wish I had never gotten into it.
I am trying to rebuild my confidence and expectation that I can build a new system and it will work flawlessly with a very minimal amount of troubleshooting and tweaking...
Remember: Prior to this build, I consistently experienced build times of less than one day, and the systems all worked flawlessly with a very minimal amount of tweaking. The one day build time included installing the OS, drivers, and programs too.
The systems build prior to these builds were both Gigabyte builds [GA E45/Q9550 and GA E43/Q6600] and to be honest with you, they literally went flawlessly. There was no guess work involved. Each system performed magnificently and never had even one BSOD or freeze up even after one full year of use.
Before those systems, I used ECS Elite for my motherboards and they too performed flawlessly. Never had a problem even once and I built several with the ECS Elite's. These MOBOS were dirt cheap and worked for years [some of them are still working today for my customers] without any complaints at all.
My most recent experiences with Gigabyte MB's have been very painful. I hope to avoid this pain in the future by purchasing MB's that work well with no or very little problems. I am struggling with wanting to start the P67A-UD3 because of all the frustration I see/hear from people...
To be 100% honest with you, I am hoping everything will go together well and work well, just as times past. I also hope I am not in dream land.
Soar
