TL;DR version, need a new Windows laptop. Want the best I can get for photo editing.


Looking for some help. I'm ready to buy a new laptop and want to get as much input as I can. The only firm spec I have right now is that it be a Windows laptop. I've been running laptops for 30 years and not interested in changing - also don't want to learn a new OS.

My current build is a Dell XPS 8th Ge i7 2.2Ghz with 32Gb Ram and a Nvidia GeoForce GT 1050 Ti and a 1Tb SSD

It has served me well, although it runs hot sometimes and bogs down occasionally. It's starting to show age in keyboard and usb ports so, it's time.  I've always done well with IBM and Dell, but I'm not overly partial to any brand of laptop, processor or video cards. Of course, I could always just go with the latest version of this model and call it done. Between clickbait, PPC, and affiliate marketing, trying to research anything on the web has become useless.

So, I want to ask you guys.

My highest use would be with my normal load of Chrome browser, Evernote, email and both Photoshop and Lightroom running.

I say this next part with caution, but money is no object. Having said that, looking at the core specs of the really expensive machines don't look a lot better than that of the mid-range. I am assuming I will pay somewhere between $2500 and $5,000. The Alientech gaming machines have great specs but, I don't really need the fancy keyboard or speaker system, but if that gets my specs up, I'm good with that.

I get a lot of conflicting advice on CPU vs GPU vs RAM and which I should invest in. Is 64Gb RAM going to buy me anything when I max out at 67% usage with my 32GB? At what point does one more generation of CPU help? Nvidia or AMD.

If you were speccing out the perfect machine what would it be?
Looking for any and all advice. Thanks