A new gaming computer at last!

Hi!  I'm so glad I looked at these forums - I read the fantastic guide by Ender and the explanation of motherboards by Dragoonseal ^_^  Posting for help in the proper format below - thanks in advance!!!!

Budget:
~4000 (but wouldn't object to less!)
Just the computer, not including monitor, speakers, headphones, mouse, keyboard

Goals/Usage:
100% Multitasking, consisting of
130% Gaming, 20% IM/Voice Chat, 20% Music/Movies, 20% Internet/email/webgames, 10% sound editing/image editing/map editing/what-have-you-editing, ** 0 % overheating **

In short, I want to be able to run whatever games I have or will get, at or near highest graphics settings, almost always running Ventrilo+Skype+Trillian, +browser, +game(s), +Winamp (sometimes), while NEVER overheating.

I've been saving all year for a computer from DSO specifically because of the cooling system. ^_^  And, it is worth mentioning I've been waiting **specifically** for the after-Thanksgiving sale, as I recall it being really good last year (but of course I had no budget for this last year).

This is what I came up with: 453060
But to be noted, a modified version of the last listed configuration in Ender's post is a good $200 cheaper with the ONLY difference being the case... 453061

I would love advice from you folks about all of it, but here are my questions outstanding:
Lasting Power - How long should this run before I need to upgrade something to keep doing what I want to do, and what will I need to upgrade then?
Cooling - It *seems* as though if I get the best liquid cooling for CPU+GPU's, I don't need to upgrade the fans and all, is that right or would both help more??
Hard Drive Space - Given that WoW by itself takes up 23 GB, and I plan to install almost every game I own and some that I don't yet own but will after I get this computer on this computer... how much would a SSD really help, because I foresee it being a pain to fit the OS and all my applications on one that is a reasonable price?  Am I ok with the 1-TB instead?  Also.. just how fragile are SSD's?  I had read quite some time ago that they're much more sensitive to vibrations, but who knows whether that was or is accurate ^_^;
Case - Before reading these forums at all, I was going to default to the Hailstorm; but what I cannot see from the gallery is whether it actually *has* two closed sides (with or without grills)?  *All* the pictures show at least one side completely open, there are *no* pictures that show it with .. 'both sides' on if it has them.  Just wondering/wanted to make sure.  Is there a significantly better case for my purposes/"best fit and cooling of the components" purposes?
PCI cards - do I need to worry about running out of slots or using up too much space with these??  I have no idea what I'm using up with this setup...  (for example I could get the USB wireless instead of PCI, if necessary)
Price - Really whatever I get here is going to be a HUGE step up over a 4.5-year-old overheating laptop, which I refurbished recently to replace *another* 4.5-year-old overheating laptop that finally died, which both run games my 7.5-year-old pretty-good-laptop-at-the-time will no longer run.  THEREFORE - I am willing to downgrade on things besides the cooling and the warranty if they're not going to kill the performance.

Thank you SOOOO much!!!!!

Originally posted by Dracaemelos Also.. just how fragile are SSD's?  I had read quite some time ago that they're much more sensitive to vibrations, but who knows whether that was or is accurate ^_^;

Not at all, quite the opposite, SSDs are extremely rugged. No moving parts like HDDs, they're just circuit boards. You can Velcro them to the side of the case or just let them sit on the bottom of a case for all it matters, you don't need to be gentle with them.

Case - Before reading these forums at all, I was going to default to the Hailstorm; but what I cannot see from the gallery is whether it actually *has* two closed sides (with or without grills)?  *All* the pictures show at least one side completely open, there are *no* pictures that show it with .. 'both sides' on if it has them.  Just wondering/wanted to make sure.  Is there a significantly better case for my purposes/"best fit and cooling of the components" purposes?

The Hailstorm leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. It's $276 more than the HAF 932, that's just ridiculous. Plus the HAF 932 cools better to boot.

I know looks are important, but I'll always strongly suggest going with the HAF instead, better cooling and you could get a 80GB Intel SSD with the savings.

PCI cards - do I need to worry about running out of slots or using up too much space with these??  I have no idea what I'm using up with this setup...  (for example I could get the USB wireless instead of PCI, if necessary)

Only if you plan on having a large number of PCIe add on cards. I'd suggest the EVGA x58 SLI3 motherboard (newer upgraded version of the LE, same price), DS will have some in stock again in time for Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.