You can solve the intellisense problem with a visual studio plugin like Visual Assist or Resharper. You can’t really work with a large code base without them.
Regarding compile times, I have exactly the sentiment, but if you have resources as you say, look into tools like Incredible (pricey) or FastBuild (free) etc. They allow you to distribute the load over multiple workstations and thus accelerate build times.
Other than that, get a fast ssd, a fast cpu and a lot of ram.
Remember that changes to cpp files are pretty quick to compile, whereas header file changes take quite a bit longer.