There are a multitude of reasons as to why I wanted to upgrade to new hardware. First of, there was the fact that I was no longer happy with the Antec Sonata. While in style, it was a nice case, the internal was a bit cramp for serious gaming. Cooling was inadequate, not because of fan failure, but merely because there was just not enough room between the various components.
Additionally, while my brother wasn't really looking for a new computer, my old laptop (Maya) is a bit old though. A computer like Sakura II has rather good hardware (considering its age).

This is also the first time I build a computer for myself. I have experience in it for other clients at work, but I always relied on a third party to build my own systems.
Selecting the components was done fairly quickly as I already knew what I wanted. Getting those components proved more trialling: due to logistic problems in Belgium (and Europe, really), it took around six weeks for the components to arrive, and not even entirely what I've ordered.
RAM and the video card proved a real problem. The original configuration had DDR3-1800, which I replaced with an order of DDR3-1600, because the 1800 had an unknown delivery date. The GTX 295, which I replaced with a HD5970 because of an absolute no-delivery of the former, has been replaced on its own with a GTX 295, because they were now deliverable, and the HD5970. I'm still waiting for my Raptor HDs. I've currently a spare HD in use.