Logarithm

Wow, that's pretty crap. What good alternatives are there?

I actually have one of those. I would partially recommend it, but in my TV there is a serious backlight problem that causes rings from the right side. I have also heard that other TCL TVs have very similar problems. So keep that in mind. It looks very good otherwise though.

Wow, I just looked more carefully, and I was incorrect. Oops, sorry.

Hey, here's a few monitors on newegg. I couldn't be bothered to sort through them, but there's a few of them that are curved gsync 2560x1440 ips/va. https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?N=100160979 600559797&IsNodeId=1&Submit=ENE

All of that looks fine. 16GB of RAM should be enough, btw. PSA: There is no such thing as a dustproof case. The best that you can do is have an balanced airflow. I think that the phanteks enthoo pro or eclipse should do fine, for your case. Are you looking to overclock?

Roku/FireTV are probably your best options. I'm not sure what their price is in Canadian dollars, but they are both under $100 in USD, so I think they'll work.

I think that you're missing that he only has about 300 USD to spend. Also, that he's in australia, where electronics are far more expensive. I'm recommending that he spends less on the DAC or amp because at the middle range pricing, investing more in the headphones gets far more value for the money. If he gets a higher-end DAC and Amp such as the schiit stack or the o2+odac combo, he really probably would barely have enough to afford HD598s, if that. I understand the idea of "invest now for a slightly cheaper time later" but it really doesn't translate to this situation and budget. Also, the E10k is a pretty good DAC/Amp for only being 80 USD. Hell, I used it for my TH-X00s for a while and it did a pretty good job. If he spends like 200 USD (which is what the schiit stack, the cheaper of the two you suggested, costs in US, not what it costs in AUS) on the DAC & Amp, he has nothing left for headphones.

The DT990s are an open-backed headphone, so they will leak a whole bunch of sound. Do you live in a noisy environment, or will you be spending a lot of time in an environment with a lot of people while using these headphones? If that's the case, I would recommend against them.

You know what? You're right, this would probably work.

I looked up that board, and I don't even think it supports USB 3.0, so I think you're pretty much out of luck on that front. But most of all, where in the hell did you find that motherboard? That thing is 8 years old!

This is absolutely the case. Even the original USB 3 wouldn't bottleneck an external harddrive, and those are half as fast as the ones that come on that AIO you're talking about.

My recommendation is that you spend more on the headphones than the DAC/Amp. I know that Massdrop is selling their K7XXs right now for 200USD, and those are a very good deal, I'm not sure what shipping to australia is, and that might kill the value. I would honestly recommend that you get a low-mid range combination DAC/Amp, the Fiio E10k is generally a good value. I'm not sure what it costs in AUS, but it'll probably be in your budget. Here are some other headphones that I think would suit you: ATH-M50x (of course) Sennheiser HD598 (of course) AKG K7XX (Most expensive, but best) Beyerdynamic DT770 (The product branding is a bit confusing, but you'll probably figure it out, also the most comfortable) These are some straightforward, can't-go-wrong solutions to people just starting out with headphones. They are all well-received by the audiophile community, and deliver good sound performance at great values.

You could just buy a really big hard drive. The 4TB ones sell for $100-$150. It's not that much.

My advice is get the headphones. The mic on headsets aren't great, and just getting a dirt-cheap dedicated microphone will be enough. Or you could even just use the microphone on your old headset if you want to be really cheap.

This is fine.