Alternatively, if you have bought a new PC (not a Mac) within the last 12 months, give me the details on it, if you love what you have.

I'd suggest holding off for a few weeks (if you can) to see how AMD's new Ryzen shapes up. The press embargo lifts today, so there should be a flood of reviews, benchmarks, and general info. Everything I have seen pre-release suggests that they may finally be back in the game. Even if you don't want to go that route, their pricing is going to force Intel to make price cuts on their CPUs, so again it is worth waiting a bit to see how things shake out.

The 1080 card just dropped in price since the 1080ti just dropped. Only 500$ for one.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3175782/components-graphics/nvidia-slashes-geforce-gtx-1080-prices-reveals-new-overclocked-memory-options.html

Ryzen looks promising, especially if you need multi threading. For gaming it appears to be not as good as an intel chip, but only by a small margin. It wins with productivity. 
 
 
That being said, if you need a build now. Here is a fairly meaty PC.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
CPU: Intel Core i7-7700 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor ($314.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: *G.Skill Ripjaws Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *OCZ TRION 150 960GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($239.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Toshiba X300 5TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: *Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card ($394.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400S ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $1504.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-02 11:44 EST-0500
  
If you have money to burn you could upgrade the GPU, but that is probably not that necessary especially at  a 1920x1200 resolution. 
 
You can also probably change out the 3.5 inch drives to something else, whatever size/ config is your preference.

 

Also. US prices on PC parts are amazing. Very jealous 
 
Edit: My formatting will not work on blog comments.

I will point out that I am incredibly inexperienced at dealing with the insides of a computer which I why I usually buy them pre-made. Having issues with putting in the fan has even lessened my confidence.

If the world was as small as the internet I'd volunteer to help you put it together!

An IT at work wants a shot at working on the computer that's having issues.  As I will be busy for the next for days, I can see no reason why he shouldn't do so.  (I wouldn't be able to bring the thing to repair shop in the next few days anyway.)  I will keep you all informed via updates on my computer's status.

I am good with computers. I have built several PC's so if you need help or info just ask me.

Computer is in the IT's hands. Wish me luck!

Update: The computer is reported to be in good condition! I will get it back tonight. I may get some new LED case lighting (in red) to celebrate. (It's cheaper than buying a new computer, right?)

(It's cheaper than buying a new computer, right?)

Undoubtedly. That being said, I still want to express my jealousy at US pricing of electronics. 

 

What are the current specs of your PC?

I will post specs of computer once I get home - after I hook up my computer.

 

If I didn't have Amazon Prime, ordering parts to Alaska would be quite expensive. I'll eventually post pictures of the computer but only after I purchase, receive, and install the red LED stuff that I'll be ordering tonight.

The computer has been wonky since its return but it is not as bad as before. To be continued, I suppose.

I reinstalled Windows 7 today as the corruption to Wndows7 appeared insurmountable.  Hold your laughter for the next sentence.  The computer is basically in baby mode and I am trying to figure out how to connect it to the internet. I can't seem to find the right drivers for it as they aren't the disc that came with the computer. (It's a bit over 3 years old now.)  Yep, pretty embarrassing. 

 

To be continued . . .

LAN port drivers? Read the model number off the motherboard and Google it. Its manufacturer should have a page with all the relevant drivers (bundled drivers are always out of date anyway).

 

Edit: I'm talking about the motherboard model by the way.

I will look into this when I get home from work.  Thanks!

Unfortunately that didn't work.  Tried dealing with the support box on the iBUYPOWER page and - after an hour - was told that I needed to speak with the "tech support" people and that they had already gone for the day.  Oh, the joys of working at night have screwed me again.

 

This has been quite disheartening.

Xuul, your case suggestione seems like a good fit. I might want to fool around with the other items on your list. I'll have to see what I can salvage from the old case.

 

If you have money to burn you could upgrade the GPU, but that is probably not that necessary especially at  a 1920x1200 resolution.

Fooling around on PCPartpicker right now, actually. BTW, I operate at 2048 x 1152 resolution.

Since I don't want throw out the baby with the bathwater, let's assume I'm be working with some of my original gear . . .

Case: iBuypower ARC 647 CASE ATX Mid Tower Case
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (and LED case fans)
Optical Drive: LG UH12NS30 Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium

Using the items listed above, see what sort of lists you can come up with on pcpartpicker.com.  (This is to ensure compatibility and that so we're all looking from the same list.)  Please include your final price excluding my aforementioned items.

Thoughts?

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Sith_Holocron/saved/nQGwP6

First thing I noticed is the cheap motherboard and processor. I went the cheap route building mine and have regretted it since. I consistently max out my processor, which is a 4th gen core i5, and my motherboard makes it hard to upgrade. The CPU cooler that came with my intel processor is plenty cooling power too, so you don't really need to spend an extra 80$ on one.

Second, I would very much recommend a Nvidia graphics card over AMD.  I have heard modern AMD cards have trouble with old games, like KOTOR.

 

Third, you've gotta get an SSD for your OS and games. Once you use one, you'll never want to go back.

 

Also, you should probably go with windows 10. Windows 7 won't be viable much longer.

Will NOT go to Windows 10. Not debatable.

 

 

I already own the case, the cooler, the graphic card so any adjustments would have to revolved around that.

 

 

I went with the CPU and MOBO choices because that's I had. Suggestions that are compatible with the above parts are accepted - use partpicker.com to ensure that?

Part list updated: Link

Win 7 is fine until 2020. And chances are they will be forced to extend support, like XP.

 

You might want to try somewhere like https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/ for feedback on your list.

Added.
 
Concerned Reddit will be brutal about this.