I’m in favor of buying more computing power than you think you need, because that means the computer will continue to be usable for a longer time.
I am definitely open to having a beefy Graphics card if it’s cost effective. Last I had heard Graphics cards had gotten super expensive and scarce so I was being hesitant in that area. I like flashy graphics as much as the next person 
I used to PC game A LOT but these days play mostly tabletop board games but I could see going back for specific games.
I definitely want to overbuy to future proof the system. That was my philosophy last time and it lasted 13 plus years (with a few replaced components here and there).
If all you want to do is play YouTube videos and run MS Office, extra computing power isn’t going to extend the life of your machine. Future-proofing is mostly a consideration for people who need to buy new software on a regular basis.
Then W_E’s build is good, but I’d also recommend going at least one tick up on the GPU to the 3060. Only 60 bucks more.
Czarcasm’s build actually seems to be pretty close to what W_E ended up with after his upgrades, so that’s a good starting point too.
That’s mostly over now.
In the intersection of “I have a lot of money to spend”, “I want this to last” and “I don’t do much intensive stuff”, I would recommend waiting a few months and then buying a mid-range AMD Ryzen 7 or Intel 13th gen i5 processor with something like an RX 6700 or 3060Ti for the GPU.
That will put you on a CPU that’s significantly better than the current gen but not with a ton of wasted money on things like overclocking or high core counts you’ll never use. The GPU will be relevant for a good long while if you’re not trying to play high end games in five years (and is easy enough to switch if you decide you want to). 16GB of RAM and an SSD (which any new PC should be coming with) and you’re good to go.
Consider that you can still run web browsers and Youtube and all that stuff just fine on a 4th gen i5 setup and I can’t imagine a moderate 13th gen or Ryzen 7 system NOT lasting you for a good long while. And anything that’s enough of a sea change to make those irrelevant probably won’t spare a same-gen i7 either.
My thinking is that you can add memory later or change the graphics card, but you can’t, as far as I know, upgrade the CPU so I would tend to go overboard there. And it’s possible that the OP later decides to start playing games again.
I agree, updating the CPU is often hard. I’m very happy my 2014 laptop had an i7, it has kept it still useable all these years later. My 2014 Desktop was only an i3 and I gave up on it in January. Now I have a robust HP desktop with a AMD Ryzen 5 4600G with Radeon Graphics 3.70 GHz.
I only went with 12GB of ram as that was the best deal for my budget at the time and it is usually the easiest and cheapest upgrade.
I splurged on a full terabyte SSD. I am very happy with this.
Upgrading a CPU isn’t Easy Mode like adding RAM but it’s not overly difficult either. Chances are, if you get a new Ryzen 7 chip, AMD will keep using the platform and socket type for many generations like they did for the last socket type. So it’ll basically be buying a Ryzen 9 chip or whatever and dropping it in along with maybe a BIOS update. Upgrading an Intel CPU past 13th gen will be a bigger hassle since it’ll almost certainly require a new board and, at that point, you’re pretty much building a PC.
AMD promises to use keep supporting the socket through 2025. But I wouldn’t necessarily expect it to last longer than that just because the previous one lasted over 5 years. AMD was in a more underdog position back then, and used the socket as part of the impetus to choose them over Intel. And they definitely felt limited in the end by still trying to support the AM4 socket and chipsets using it.
I note that Intel recently changed sockets with 12th gen, and they usually only keep the same socket for one or two more versions. And I’ve not heard them making any support announcements. So you’re probably right that, by the time you might want to upgrade the CPU, you’ll need a new motherboard.
Though there is always the possibility that you pick up a used CPU of a higher caliber but the same generation/socket. Some people deliberately wait on those prices to go down, and get those instead of a new CPU. I don’t pay enough attention to the market to know if that’s something that is likely to work out.
I’ve bought Dells almost exclusively for decades, and have been completely happy with them, but IME, you’ll save some money if you buy the PC with minimum RAM and expand it yourself with aftermarket memory. I don’t know if it’s the same with HP or other makers, but Dell’s price to upgrade RAM at the time of ourchase is way above what you can get it for elsewhere, as long as you don’t mind installing it yourself.
Years ago I bought an Apple laptop and found that was the case with expanded memory for it. It was much cheaper to buy it with the minimum and replace it myself.
Yes.
Having Dell install your RAM for you is like having your car repair shop install your wiper blades. It’s a great profit center for them, but something you certainly should be able to do for yourself.
Good analogy!
I have yet to buy an Intel CPU computer (came close the last time but found a sweet deal at the last minute lol) and I’ve had very good luck with Lenovo so if I were in your situation with your budget I’d probably go for this one:
Plenty of room to grow and less than half your budget so you can afford some games or new monitors or whatever. 
Independent computer stores are getting somewhat scarce, but if you have a reputable one near you it may be worth your while to have a chat with them to determine what you need. There may not be much of a price break, but the upside is that you’ll know what’s inside your system; and if it needs service they’re close at hand.
Full disclosure, I currently work for Microsoft.
I always buy from the MSFT store. All the PC’s ship with a clean image tested by msft and without all the crapware that you typically get from other outlets. My personal experience have been really good on returns and issues. YMMV.
One downside with Lenovo is that they tend to abuse a feature of AMD processors that lets them lock the CPU to your motherboard.
Sure, for most people, this won’t matter too much. But if you ever (1) replace your motherboards while keeping the CPU (e.g. because you keep it long enough the mobo breaks) or (2) sell your CPU, that could be a reason to consider a different brand.
This was the biggest improvement I made even though my computer was all faster and had more memory than my previous one. Solid state was essential and all I’ll ever get again.
I concur.
I upgraded an old MacBook Pro (2009 model) with an SSD (and another 4GB of RAM, but at the time it wasn’t memory-limited) and the result was like moving up to a new generation of computer.
I’m using that computer right now, though it’s running Linux (as Apple no longer supports the model…)
I’ll never use spinning rust for my primary drive again.
It looks like you traded off graphics capability for computing capability. What are your graphics specs?
After building systems for years, my wife bought a prefab from Corsair a few years back when we couldn’t get a GPU for love or money. She’s been happy with it.