I am wondering if it's time to consider buying a new desktop tower?

it's been SEVERAL years, if not a decade or more, is it time to upgrade my CPU and operating system... the computers runs perfectly right now.

1.8TB standard HD about 20% capacity.

and if so, what are the recommendations for replacement... Current is HP and I think I want to move to a super wide (41") monitor.

That is an 11 year old i7. It would not be a shame to replace it.
What are you using the PC for? Is gaming involved or anything else that requires a discrete graphics card?

If you do not buy a new computer, what I would certainly do is put in a 500GB SSD to replace that HD.
Another thing to consider is upgrading RAM to 16GB

Do you have a graphics card installed or are you using the iGPU of the i7? Just run HWINFO64, no need to open your PC

I am thinking I am just going to get something new... probably i9.
I like to future proof my big purchases and get my monies worth.

I did a build on DELL last night for an i9 with a 38" wide screen and it came in around $4500 and that seems slightly high. are there no economies of scale with larger pc builders/retailers?

who is building the best processors right now... intel or AMD?

I agree with everything that Gabe says here.

If you hit the start button, and type in "System information" or "dxdiag" (no quotes in either case) you should be able to get all the relevant tech info for your Windows 10/11 system.

You can buy monitors separately from your actual PC

for cheaper than from a major retailer?

I suggest comparing the price at various retailers; I suspect that Amazon will offer you a very competitive price.

My point is that the place that sells you your PC (ie, the computer tower) is probably not going to be the best retailer of monitors too. It might be! But worth comparing.

i9 seems overkill without specific application that you are running that needs that amount of computing power, like computer sims, vid conversion,. etc

not sure what you built for 4500$, but lol. Seems overly expensive.

I'd always buy next-to-last generation, so you don't pay top dollar and still have something very recent.

If you are not into (heavy) gaming, you can buy a prebuilt PC on Amazon with Ryzen 5700g for less than 800$. that is a powerful processor, with pretty good integrated graphics and equivalent to an i7, more/less.

Something like THIS, if you want a good version with 32GB RAM, WiFi and whoppingly fast storage.

Dell... $3500 delivered.


Processor
12th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900 (30 MB cache, 16 cores, 20 threads, 2.40 GHz to 5.10 GHz Turbo)

Operating System
Windows 11 Home, English

Video Card
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3080, 10 GB GDDR6X

Chassis Options
1000W Platinum Silver Bezel Chassis including optical drive

Cooling Option
Performance CPU liquid cooling

Memory
64 GB, 2 x 32 GB, DDR5, 4400 MHz; up to 128 GB (add'l mem sold separately)

Hard Drive
1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

CD ROM/DVD ROM
Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)

Wireless
Killer™ Wi-Fi 6 1675 (2x2) 802.11ax Wireless and Bluetooth 5.2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can dial back the performance and save maybe 2600 by going with 32gb ram and 3050 nvidia...

this is saving money...

Dell... $2100



Processor
12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700 (25 MB cache, 12 cores, 20 threads, 2.10 GHz to 4.90 GHz Turbo)

Operating System
Windows 11 Home, English

Video Card
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 Ti, 8 GB GDDR6

Chassis Options
750W Night Sky Bezel Chassis including optical drive

Cooling Option
Performance CPU liquid cooling

Memory
32 GB, 2 x 16 GB, DDR5, 4400 MHz; up to 128 GB (add'l mem sold separately)

Hard Drive
1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

CD ROM/DVD ROM
Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)

Wireless
Killer™ Wi-Fi 6 1675 (2x2) 802.11ax Wireless and Bluetooth 5.2

MSchu18,

What are you actually going to use that beast of a machine to do?

Brag... I run large file photoshop as the most intensive computational applications, not businessoriented... I might try some Games later, but I don't currently game now.
I will probably keep the computer for at least ten years.

MSchu18,

You can probably spend $800 now for 95% of the performance, and $800 around 2030 (!!!!) for 200% of the performance then.

I've assembled my own computers before, it's fairly simple... and I am not adverse to saving money, but I want something fast, SILENT and reliable.

That dell spec is about as cheap as I have seen for something that powerful.

CD/DVD drives are pretty much obsolete now so you can exclude that unless your photoshop work involves importing photos from a CD. Most modern cases dont even have a slot for a CD\DVD drive anymore.

1TB M2 SSD is overkill for a boot drive. That may be the only drive you need unless you have large storage requirements.

A CPU AIO (all in one) liquid cooler is probably overkill unless your CPU is doing a lot of work and running hot a lot. You can get a solid air cooler for like $40 on Amazon.

Photoshop is a CPU intensive program so thats what you should focus on. At least an i7

For graphics cards, a 3060TI or a 3070 fit your needs fine and you can pay the premium for 3080 or 3090 if you want to future proof it more.


Dont buy it thru Dell. You will eat a markup on every component and the components that you aren't picking out specifically (I dont see a power supply or motherboard on your spec list and those are two key components of your build) will the cheapest lowest quality components they can get.

Core Components
CPU - 12th Gen Intel
Motherboard - Z690 are the boards compatible with 12th gen Intel CPUs. Several manufacturers with different quality/price tiers.
GPU - Nvidea 3000 series
Power Supply - Gold rated probably at least 750W
RAM - DDR5
Case - whatever you want. Silent was a key for you so look at Be Quiet. Their cases have soundproof foam attached to the top and side panels to dampen vibrations and absorb fan noise, although my new case is just as quiet without the dampeners.
CPU Fan - A solid air cooler should be sufficient although you can get an AIO liquid cooler if you want.
Storage Drives - 1TB M2 should do it. Plus extra storage as needed.
Case Fans - One usually comes with the case but you are going to need more to get good airflow thru your case. If you get an AIO liquid CPU cooler then the radiator will come with some fans.

Not sure what you want me to say, you are suggesting wildly.different options

Do not buy an RTX 3050. Terrible value for money

Also if you are buying a new RTX 3XXX, you are burning money. The second hand market is crashing.

But if you hate money and have too much of it, go right ahead.

Also, this.

Buying the latest of the latest to last 10 years is more expensive than buying 2 next-to-last gen PCs

I mean... thanks for the economics lesson.
isnt this a tech section?

Your current computer works fine, you want to spend a lot of money, go for it.

I guess your only question is, "At the top end, with money being no object, what's the fastest CPU I can get?" I think the answer is Intel.

Ordered.... 2500 delivered.
Tried to get a Ryzen 9 but could not get it configured how I wanted I wanted it with ddr5 and a 3080.

Processor
12th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900 (30 MB cache, 16 cores, 20 threads, 2.40 GHz to 5.10 GHz Turbo)

Operating System
Windows 11 Home, English

Video Card
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3080, 10 GB GDDR6X

Chassis Options
1000W Platinum Silver Bezel Chassis including optical drive

Cooling Option
Performance CPU liquid cooling

Memory
32 GB, 2 x 16 GB, DDR5, 4400 MHz; up to 128 GB (add'l mem sold separately)

Hard Drive
2 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD

CD ROM/DVD ROM
Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)

that's a beast of a machine, enjoy it!

I canceled my order... I am just going to wait for the raptors and see how they go, them I will just do my own build. If there are issues with the Intel 13's, I will just build a ryzen 9.