Time for a new computer?

You can easily make a new build that will be a huge upgrade and fit a monitor in within the budget with ease. Can you fill out the "how to ask for advice for a new build" sticky? It makes it easier for us to come up with a build knowing all of your preferences/location.

You might be able to re-use the HDD and optical drive if they are SATA, and you would obviously be able to use the case.

Welcome to the forums!

That's about it really.

First @Deemo13

looks like the HD is SATA (Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive (Perpendicular Recording Technology) ) but the DVD is IDE

Secondly for zooted I'm still in the "thinking about it phase" but heres would it might look like

Approximate Purchase Date: possibly by the end of this year
Budget Range: Probably less that $1500 including monitor
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Music recording and playback. Recording with Pro Tools LE 8. Some gaming (casual mainly), surfing, misc bookkeeping etc
Are you buying a monitor: Yes
Parts to Upgrade: CPU/MB/Memory/monitor and add an SSD most likely. Possibly soundcard though PT 8 doesn't play nice with anything but Avid stuff and I doubt I'll upgrade to 9 which does
Do you need to buy OS: Yes though I have a copy of XP since it won't be supported probably time to upgrade
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: likely newegg
Location: South Bay California
Parts Preferences: by brand or type No preference
Overclocking: Yes since I OC the current one. Not crazy OC though
SLI or Crossfire: No I think since IIRC this is multiple GPU's :idk:
Your Monitor Resolution: I haven't really looked into this yet and anything will be an upgrade from current
Additional Comments: A quiet PC is useful for recording purposes only game currently being played is LOTRO online though my friend is trying to convince me to play Guild Wars 2
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: current computer is 6 years old and it's getting near time. However everything still works so there is no emergency

This is probably a pretty solid build for you for that price, including a monitor and Windows 7.

If you have programs that only will work with Windows XP, Windows 7 Professional has a XP mode sort of thing, where you can use your XP programs with 7.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($26.82 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory ($36.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card ($234.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VH238H 23.0" Monitor ($171.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $943.74
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Thanks Deemo the PCPartPicker website is very helpful.

I put together this which is similar just for kicks. I think I would like a SSD for booting purposes. I would gather that I could keep my old HD as storage rather than getting a new one even though HDDs are pretty cheap
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lPne
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lPne/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/lPne/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS7000C-Cu Ball Bearing CPU Cooler ($23.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Mushkin Chronos 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($164.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($216.97 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($159.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($91.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1061.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

I'm guessing that even though window 8 just came out that window 7 is still the better choice. Some of the other choice like coolers and PS can drive you   with all the choices

Well, you can have Windows 8 if you want, I'm just not that familiar with it, so I don't feel good recommending it. I'll have to read up on it more another time.

The CoolerMaster 212 EVO is best in class, but you can't really go wrong with Zalman either.

What do you mean by "PS"?

PS==Power Supply

It's hard to figure out what to get when there are 100's of options. CPU is actually the easiest decision I think

I don't necessarily want Windows 8 if I'm likely to have a bunch of capability issues but I do want to future proof any new build as much as possible. I certainly would like to get another 6+ years out of any new build

Firstly, that CPU from microcenter is pick-up only, FYI.

If your budget is 1500, then you can build a HECK of a computer that will definitely be "future proof". I could make you a build, but you're on the right track honestly with the parts you've picked out. However, if you're still undecided, and you don't need the upgrade now, then i would think about waiting until March for the release of Haswell (LGA 1150). Think about it, you'll get a platform that will not only be noticeably better than Ivy Bridge (which is good already), but one that will allow you to upgrade. If you want future proof, go with Haswell. If you want a computer NOW, go with an Ivy Bridge Core-i7 3770k rather than the i5-3570k. You'll appreciate the extra threads for the kind of work you'll be doing, and you might as well get the best that Ivy Bridge has to offer if it's only $90 more.

Yes I think $1500 is a good number since I will certainly need a monitor and the last computer was about 1200 (but RAM was hideously expensive then). I did not know about the Haswell though reading a bit about it suggests that it is probably more likely to be needing some software upgrades for Windows 7 so I wonder if it would be really plug and play in March/April. I could wait so long as my current computer still keeps on trucking

oh I live near a Microcenter so I could put it up if I wanted to go that way