New long-lasting PC for browsing, development, some media editing

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.

On the computer it will replace, I'm mostly just using the browsers (Chrome, Firefox), occasionally a local MS Office product (Word, Excel), and some use of Adobe Creative Suite 6 (primarily InDesign and PhotoShop). For the new machine, in addition to the current use, I would like to move back into programming (MS Visual Studio), simple audio editing (I'm thinking audacity), and ideally some simple video editing. Possibly also dual-booting with a Linux, but I may just do that via flash drive.

What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?

For this post, I'll go as high as $1000 USD (but lower is fine!).

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

If the suggestions look good and I can stay excited, then maybe within a week!

What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (Tower/OS/monitor/keyboard/mouse/etc)

Hmm.. 1: Tower, and 2: a second monitor. (Regarding the monitor: I currently have a Asus 23" VX238H; something similar in size would be ideal, but I should be able adjust the monitor in my order if I need to.)

Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?

I'm in the US, and I do not have access to a Microcenter.

If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.

I currently have a Asus 23" VX238H monitor on my Windows 7 system; I would like it to be one of two monitors on the new system. Unless I need to replace them, I plan to continue to use my existing basic USB wired mouse and keyboard.

Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?

Nope! I am way too out of the loop right now to even consider overclocking, so I would appreciate a good base speed and cache.

Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

• I would like an optical drive to read/write CDs/DVDs, but I could be convinced to go external.
• USB 3 would be great.
• I like RAID1, but I don't think I actually need it.
• I'm not sure if I should go with the capacity of a 7200 rpm traditional magnetic drive or the speed of an SSD, but I hear that the prices are close enough that SSD makes more sense. I guess then that I would lean towards an SSD with the ability for me to add an HDD later. If I ever do get to a point of working with video-sized files, I might appreciate the extra capacity. I just glanced at another build; an SSD is probably fine! But I might still want to add later.
• On a similar note, I would rather have a board/RAM combo that allows me to add RAM later, than a combo that starts maxed out.

Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-tower/full-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

While I like the size of the ITX/microATX, I prefer the ability to open the machine and add new hardware as needed without difficulty. On my current PC, my hard disk controller failed, so I added a RAID card instead of replacing the board, which probably wouldn't be an option with a micro case. I don't think I need a full tower -- I'm not adding major cooling or lots of drives -- so my preference is a mid-tower.

Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?

I'm not sure; go ahead and include a copy of Windows 10 Pro.

Extra info or particulars: I think I bought my current PC 10 years ago. (!) I've since replaced the PSU and the board and the HDD and the OS (and maybe increased the RAM?), but haven't had to replace the processor/case/etc. I would love to have another box that I can hold onto for another 10 years -- if that means I pay more up front for a better processor or a board with more upgradability or more reliability, then okay! I can convince myself to make one big payment now. But at this budget, I'm not going to want to feel forced to do it again in a couple of years (unless I suddenly become a gamer or start doing major video editing, in which case my use case has changed). I have a slight preference for Intel over AMD, but that is based on some issues I had with some AMD hardware I bought at work 10 years ago. It is probably no longer an issue, but all things being equal, my preference is Intel.