Hi, Jim.  I had a different set of issues getting WSJT-X to work on my Optiplex 5050 (Dell) desktop, and after wrestling with it on and off for a couple of weeks, I threw in the towel and bought an inexpensive laptop to essentially dedicate to digital mode radio.  Reading between the lines in your posts, it looks like you may need more horsepower to handle tasks in addition to digi-mode radio so this may not be for you.

But just in case this provides at least a frame of reference, here's what I got from Dell's direct online store for about $400:  Dell Inspiron 5402, i3 chipset @3.0GHz, 4GB memory, 128GB SSD; O/S is Win10. The rig is an ICOM 7410.  This setup worked like a charm right out of the gate -- I've never had an issue 8 months and 3,500 FT8 contacts later.  There have been a few evenings where conditions were so good that the contacts were rolling in faster than I could log them -- classic one-armed paper hanger mode, so no decode latency as far as I can tell.  Running Dimension 4 (freeware) for time sync, also trouble free.  Also, I have a ham buddy with exactly the same laptop (rig is an ICOM 706) and he's had the same experience -- no issues.

You wouldn't want this machine for CPU pegging, processing intensive applications but for WSJT-X and basic computing tasks, it does just fine.  And the price is right.

73 and good luck getting to the promised land!

Dick
KK6LE