First scratch build in ten years, talk me out of my mistakes

[Harbour]

After a decade of laptops and prebuilts I am finally doing a proper scratch build again, and the landscape has changed so much it may as well be a different hobby. Last time I built, air coolers were a personality trait and RGB was optional rather than mandatory

Rough plan is a mid range gaming and photo editing machine, prioritising quiet operation over absolute performance. I care more about the thing being silent under load than about ten extra frames. Budget is flexible but sanity is not, I refuse to pay scalper prices for anything

Before I start ordering, what are the mistakes people made getting back into building recently? Not asking for a parts list, asking for the traps. The things the spec sheets do not tell you until the box is open and the return window is closed

[EventHorizon27]

Case airflow matters more than your cooler choice. A great cooler in a sealed glass box is a kettle

[Amber Tiger]

Seconding this, my biggest silence gain came from the case, not the cooler

[Brandon18]

Check GPU length against the case before ordering, modern cards are absurd bricks. Ask me how I know

[Fan22]

How do you know?

[Di87]

There is a graphics card shaped dent in my drive cage and a hole in my weekend, that is how

[Faded Owen]

Do not cheap out on the power supply and get one with a fanless idle mode, half your silence goal is right there

[Arkham93]

Mild disagreement on quiet obsession, modern parts at stock are already quiet, do not spend a fortune chasing silence you will not hear over your fridge

[Grace24]

Fair, but OP said photo editing too, sustained loads are where the fridge comparison falls apart. What monitor situation are you working with, OP?