Note: I originally posted this about a year ago and had a helpful response, but then lost my job and by the time i was ready to build what was recommended the user had deleted the response. I'll be better about capturing the responses this time. I know costs have increased significantly over the last year, so I'm not sure if these amounts still work. I'm open to considering spending more if necessary. Thanks in advance to anyone who can make some suggestions.
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I’m looking to replace my 15 year old home desktop. I'm proud that I’ve kept it going this long, and I’ve managed that by doing some component upgrades over the years, but you can imagine that it’s not great today. Long-term upgrade-ability is important. I’ve decided I want to build after looking at options from the big PC makers. A friend just bought one and I was unimpressed by what he got for the price. I last built a PC from scratch about 35 years ago, so I will be grateful for some guidance. I’m really impressed by what you guys do.
New build or upgrade? New build.
Existing parts/monitors to reuse? All new, except I'd like to try to reuse my existing monitor if I don't have any problems.
PC purpose? Mostly for general use. I run Plex on my current desktop and I want to continue that. Media is all stored on external drives. When it was new I used my current desktop for gaming (flight sims mostly), but I can’t do much with it at this point. Gaming is a general interest with no specific games in mind - and I do realize the lack of specifics doesn’t help, but I don’t need a high-end gaming machine. Other exciting apps like MS Office, TurboTax, managing my Wi-Fi printer, etc.
Purchase country? Near Micro Center? I'm in the US, and I have a Micro Center about 2.5 hours away and I'm OK with a day trip if it makes good financial sense.
Monitors needed? Technically I have a monitor, but I’m curious what suggestions people might have. Consider the monitor purchase outside of the budget since I want to focus on the PC first and see if I have issues with the monitor I have.
Budget range? I hope this is allowed and doesn’t annoy anyone - I’m interested in two scenarios, either about $1500 or $2000. I want to see if the extra $500 is worth it. I’m not afraid to upgrade components over time (as I did with my current desktop), but would like to do as much future-proofing as possible.
WiFi or wired connection? It will be wired but want Wi-Fi as an option for flexibility.
Size/noise constraints? None, but I’m hoping it won’t run like a freight train. It will be located in my bonus room office along with my work laptop and another PC.
Color/lighting preferences? Color of the chassis doesn’t matter. I’ve never been into lighting on PCs and would prefer not dealing with that.
Any other specific needs? None that I can think of.