Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.
Ugh, what a nightmare. The same thing actually happened to my first order with B&H as well. My monitor was double boxed, but it was in such horrible condition that most of the packaging tapes were missing, and you can practically reach in and touch the monitor.
Anyway, just to give you guys an...
I received my EV2736W from B&H earlier this month. That panel was glow-free, but it had several dead pixels (four of which are in the center :(). The exchanged unit should be here on Friday, I'll let you guys know how that turn out.
My old case was a Zalman GT1000 (with 2x 92mm & 1x 120mm fans, all Noctua). Before I transferred my system today, I wrote down the CPU/HD/GPU temperatures, and the new system with 550D is (on avg.) 4 to 5 degrees warmer. Annoyed with that, I changed the exhaust fan with a spare Noctua 120mm and...
Just got my 550D today from Newegg. It's in the perfect condition (no bent panel or rattlings). One thing I noticed right away is that the included fans are a little weak (will probably replace them with some Noctuas soon).
SSD Caching is nice if you don't already have an SSD, or that you don't want to spend $200+ for it. The performance gain by using it is not too bad really, here's an early benchmark:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68-express-lucidlogix-virtu-ssd-caching,2888-4.html
If a quad-core processor isn't enough for you, then get a hex-core. And if that's not enough, then spend the money to get a workstation/server board. Wishing for something that doesn't exist will not make it happen magically.
I received my replacement board from Gigabyte this morning (UD4, advanced RMA), and the board is new. So, I don't see why Newegg would send you a refurbished board.
I use a Mac Pro at work, and I have a Zalman GT-1000 case for my home computer. They have similar build quality. Neither is as attractive as Windy however. Just my 2 cent.