Processor / drive recommendations for potential new PC

[JoeGBradford]

Hi all - processor advice & drive advice please!

It looks like I may have to replace my PC a year before I was going to (it is not compatible with Windows 11 and is getting long in the tooth anyway). Every time it boots up it gives me a warning message about a power surge - I'm going to check the cables between my PSU and mobo but if that doesn't fix it there is probably little point in forking out for a new PSU when the machine is going to be redundant before too long

I'm in the UK and probably going to go with a custom built system from Chillblast (my current PC was from them and it has been very good - they also offer a 5 year warranty) or Scan (A friend's suggestion) - though suggestions of other suppliers would be welcome

Two possible options are here: https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/3xs-student-composer-system       https://www.chillblast.com/chillblast-fusion-tempo-music-production-pc-1.html?category_id=709      

I have an Intel i5 processor in the current machine and am probably going to upgrade to i7. i9 or equivalent. Does anyone have any thoughts whether Ryzen processors are as good. Years back I had an Athlon an that seemed pretty sound. Are the RYzen 7 and 9 equivalent to i7 and i9. Some of the machines under consideration have Ryzen processors. I'll be using the PC for Cakewalk - midi (particularly using orchestras, Sampletank, Syntronik etc & loops only - no live audio recording) and for light gaming

My friend has strongly suggested that I get M.2 PCIe (NVMe) drives due to their speed over SSD drives - Scan do a few ready built audio workstations with these but Chillblast only has one with the system drive as a NVMe but do not allow you to customise and add any additional NMVe drives (though they do allow other customisation which Scan do not). My friend is however a computer geek and always wants the best where I am satisfied if stuff works reasonably quickly!

Be grateful for any thoughts on the above.