KoolKaboom

I just looked into it, I had no idea this was problem. It appears that MSI has updated the bios, and many are saying that the boards now support Haswell refresh. I guess the problem was at launch before the bios update. Thanks for the heads up though, that would have been bad if the system couldn't even boot lol.

I somewhat feel the same way. Sometimes in the contests (I looked back at some of the previous ones) there are two or more states of mind on how to do the builds. For an example, in a workstation build, it could be whether to use Nvidia vs AMD, as they both have their pros and cons. 
 
When somebody submits a build, they obviously think that it is the best one possible for what they are trying to accomplish. In the last build-off, for example, I went for performance and reliability first, spending only what was left over on peripherals. It seemed to me that most people did the same, which led to me not voting. But if somebody had a different mind set, such as putting more of an emphasis on comfortable peripherals and ease of use and sacrificing a bit of performance, and had executed it well, they would have earned my vote.
 
I don't think voting for others should be required. While I don't like how only 3 people voted, I understand why it happened, as I was one of the non-voters. In my defense, I believed mine was the best built and there wasn't anything that offered anything different, but instead just less powerful systems trying to accomplish the same goal, which I guess makes me sound like an asshole, but it's the truth. There wasn't much diversity in the contest which led the contest to being more determined by benchmarks rather than actual use.
 
This is why I'm looking forward to the next competition (the Hackintosh 2.0), as there are so many different options on where to spend the money, and it will lead to more diversity in the build. I believe this will lead to more votes (but I may be wrong and we may all just be a group of selfish assholes lol).
 
After all, this is a competition, and some people will not vote for what is best for the competition, but only for what is best for themselves. Requiring voting may lead to some seriously messed up results.
 
TL:DR The builds need to be a bit more diverse for more voting to occur, as everyone builds what they believe is best. There needs to be more options in the build, to make people realize that there are other ways to build it that could be better, such as different allocations of budget, instead of having it come down to who system has the better specs and does the best in benchmarks.

I'm new to this, so tell me if I'm breaking any rules and I'll update it.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($159.99 @ Micro Center) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($62.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.79 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($242.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($29.99 @ NCIX US) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Keyboard: Logitech Corded Keyboard K280e Wired Standard Keyboard  ($14.99 @ NCIX US) 
Mouse: Logitech M510 Wireless Laser Mouse  ($24.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $749.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-11 20:09 EST-0500
 
Explanation: 

I'm assuming this is built for a girl, from the title, but I guess I could be wrong...
 
CPU: Went Intel because I planned on having a dedicated gpu, and the i5-4590 is such a good deal at $160.
 
Mobo: Went itx, as most of my female friends aren't looking for a large rig to put on display, but instead something small to tuck away. H97 because the CPU can't overclock. Most important feature is the ac wireless connectivity. Having this built in is useful, and I have never met a girl with her router anywhere near her desk. 
 
RAM: Just the cheapest 8 gig kit I could find, just happened to match the Mobo.
 
Storage: SSD + HDD combo is basically required if the budget can afford it. Makes everything so much better. I know there are cheaper SSD's but Crucial builds fast and reliable stuff and there is no need in cheaping out on your personal data (especially when it's someone else's data).
 
GPU: 290 is now the best thing for your money. Yes, it will get a bit toasty in an mitx chasis, but there is no better value. Spent the extra $3 on the XFX instead of the MSI solely because I had extra budget and it color matched better.
 
Case: I personally love the look of this case. It's clean and small, with nice brushed aluminum. And yes, the PSU does fit with the GPU, I checked.
 
PSU: EVGA makes good stuff. While this is not their best, for a non overclocked build it will do just fine for $30.
 
Keyboard: Every single time a girl uses either my or my friends mechanical keyboard, they say that they would rather use their laptop's keyboard. So chicklet keyboard it is. I've never used a bad logitech product, so this will definitely not cause any problems.
 
Mouse: M510. I love this mouse. Used it for ~3 years before upgrading to the G602. It's wireless, with insane battery life (I literally change the batteries once in the time that I used it), no tracking issues, feels great in the hand, has a satisfying click... I can't rave enough about how good this mouse is, especially for being only $25. Best budget mouse IMHO.

This is a bit beastly for a "light gaming" rig, it's amazing how far $750 goes...

Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for, I don't know how I missed it... It looks like a painting them wouldn't be overly difficult with a lot of care, but it won't be as easy as a pc case by a long shot.

I've painted many things, but only few plastic. They turned out pretty nice, but I'm definitely going to do some practicing before doing the headphones.

Roll back your driver.
Go to Start>>type in Device Manager and hit Enter>>Find your video card in display adapters>>Right click and click properties>>Driver tab>>Roll back driver.
Post back your results.