New to DigitalStorm - build advice

I'm in the market for a new gaming rig.  I have always built my rigs in the past, but I have grown weary of faulty parts, unreliable setups, etc.  I started looking online for a company that would build one for me, and all reviews point to Digital Storm!  I've been browsing this site off and on for for a couple of months and I've decided to buy from DS.  I went to the ODE V2's, but I was hoping to customize them a bit more - a lot of the other models give you the option to customize the components, but not the ODE V2 (or at least not that I could find).  In searching for a way to customize, I stumbled upon these forums, and thought I would ask for advice, since this is my first "store-bought" build, and my first purchase from DS.

Okay, all of the introduction aside, here are my needs/wants:

1. Budget
Probably a bit lower compared to most purchases on this site.  I'm married with 3 kids.  I love to game, but I'm a family man first.  When I do game, I'd love to have the best possible experience, but because I'm not gaming all the time, I can't justify dropping a ton of cash.  My budget is between $1500-$1750.
2. Expectations
Like I mentioned above, I like my gaming to perform and I like to be impressed with the graphics - I like the "WOW that looks good!" factor.  I have a single monitor (no room for multiple), and I usually game with earbuds.  My screen resolution is 1920x1080 (ASUS VH226H).  This machine is in the master bedroom, so I would like something that runs quiet.  One turn-off to the ODE that I have noticed is the red glow from the chassis. I'd like it to be a dark, quiet, machine.  If the fans rev up during gameplay, that's fine, I just mean, generally quiet, especially when not in use.  I also want it to last as long as possible.  I've had my current rig for almost 4 years now (EEK - time for a new one!)
3. Usage
The games I play most: League of Legends, Modern Warfare 3, Minecraft, Battlefield 3.  I like to use Fraps to record games sometimes (mainly League of Legends).  This machine would also be the "family computer", so it will be importing pictures/videos, internet browsing, general productivity.  I am into photography, so I use Photoshop quite a bit, but my performance has been to fine - I don't do anything too crazy in Photoshop.  I do use a basic video editor to clip videos or paste multiple videos together.  As I mentioned before, since this is the family computer, it needs to last a while.
4. Special Needs
We have a lot of home videos stored on our computer.  I have about 3TB of space for media.  I am hoping I can use my existing SATA drives and don't need to purchase extra storage.
Also, I mentioned before, this computer will live in the master bedroom, and for whatever reason, this bedroom has a higher temperature than the rest of the house, even when the air conditioner is running.  A computer with a good cooling system would be nice.

5. Extra
Here are the things I do not know about, and would like advice, or just some extra stuff to know about me:
 a) SSD?
 We have always left our computer on 24/7.  Mainly because start up time is so long, even with the Windows 7 improvements.  We are constantly stopping by to look something up, put on a song, watch something on hulu, play Minecraft for 5 minutes, etc.  I've tried putting the machine to sleep, but for some reason (probably some way I set it up because I built it), this never works well, so we just leave it on 24/7.  I would love it if the machine could boot in seconds, or at least recover from sleep/hibernate in seconds (and be stable when recovering).  I've been looking a lot at SSD drives.  I just don't know enough about them, and I don't know if the cost is worth it.  If I can get a rig that has a super speedy boot/recover time, and SSD wouldn't be necessary.
 b) liquid cool?
As I mentioned before, the room that this computer will live in runs warm.  I'm not the kind of guy that loves to tweak and get PC temps as low as possible for the fun of it, but I want to make sure that running in a warmer environment is going to be okay on this rig.  I need advice as to what cooling I should get...
 c) overclocking
I've never overclocked my PCs.  It's not a huge deal for me.  (probably because I was doing the builds myself and was afraid of wrecking something).  If the recommended build is overclocked, I'm good with that - it's just not a requirement.
 d) Digital Storm so far
I've been looking on DS for a while.  I looked at the lowest Marauder series, and it just doesn't seem like that's the one for me.  Maybe I'm too snobby (especially for my lower budget).  I really like the ODE V2's, except I haven't been able to find how to customize them.  I wish I could put an SSD on the ODE V2 Level 2 rig - that would put me really close to my budget.  Obviously I'd love to spend $4k and buy an awesome rig, but that's not realistic.

Final Thoughts
I think that's about it.  Maybe you read my requirements and just laugh at me in the context of my budget.  Maybe I am being unrealistic and there isn't a machine that can accomplish what I want in my budget, and that's fine (hope I'm not wasting anyone's time).  But I thought I would throw out my wish list and see if anything sticks.

Lastly - My budget goes up to $1750, but I'm sometimes compulsive.  If you come back and say, "Oh, if you could only go up to $1900 you could get everything you are looking for, plus this cool feature" you'll probably have me.  Then again, I have a feeling I'm being unreasonable already with my budget - I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask and see what's available/recommended though.

Thanks in advance - I'm excited already for my new PC!


Edited by hannahbrian - 15 Jun 2012 at 12:31pm

I knew I forgot something :)  I'll update my original post real quick too, and then read over your message...

My resolution is 1920x1080
My screen is a ASUS VH226H



Edited by hannahbrian - 15 Jun 2012 at 12:31pm

Okay - these are good builds - exactly what I was hoping to see!  Thanks very much for the help!  One question to bprat22 - how did you get the "Create your own dream PC" screen to be able to pick and choose components like that.  Did you start with a base system and customize it, or is there a link where you can start from scratch?

Also, on the bprat22 build, it's a AIR: Stage 1 cooler, where on the orange7 build, it has H20: Stage 2.  Does the H20 cooling matter that much, especially since the room I'm in is warmer?  I don't know enough about the different cooling methods (a lot has changed in 4 years) so I'm out of my element on this aspect.

That helps a ton.  Thanks very much for the advice!