SURVEY--What Kind of Computer are YOU using?

[J.Edward]

You can really do a lot with less than one would expect, depending on how you approach it.
I've gotten some great results by doing the line work as pencil, then scan, then some digital color.
That's not too intensive.

That said, if you want to do huge maps with tons of detail, labels, and all the frills, bigger is better.
My work computer is a few years old at this point. Trying to recall the specs...
I built this one back in 2015? 2016? I don't recall exactly.

i7-5820 [@3.30GHz] I generally don't overclock. Stability is better.
GSkill32Gb of DDR4 ram, gigabyte x99-ud3p mobo [always had good fortune with Gigabyte]
PNY nvidia gtx 960 4gb
samsung 500GB ssd [other drives including a 60GB ssd scratch drive for PS and other apps]
27 in Dell 2715H [not the most accurate color. Need to get a better 2nd monitor]
Wacom cintiq 27
win7 pro 64 bit
a solid silverstone 700w psu [stability is important]
I also made the leap to a liquid cooled system
I think it was a cooler master system. I can check if needed.
AND a battery backup unit. That is crucial important.
We have random power outages around here.

I found a decent large format scanner/printer and that has been an immense help with my work.
Epson workforce wf7520. Large format scanners are super expensive so this was a steal in comparison.
And large format printing was a good thing too.

Good audio was important too, as I am at this pc for most of the day.
So I got a nice set of M-audio AV40 active powered speakers.

For software, I try all sorts of things out.
I've had a number of versions of PS over the years. CS5 was the latest.
I'm sure I'd like new features, but I am opposed to monthly schemes.
I've found other useful software to be ...
irfanview - free image viewer with some features
other utilities... snag-it, PureRef, G.Projector

Mischief - a weird vector app, but has an infinite canvas, which is cool.
Krita, Sketchbook Pro, Medibang Paint, Inkscape, Painter,
Old versions of SketchUp pro, would like new version but once it was bought by Trimble, they wouldn't give me a fair upgrade price.
Old versions of Vue Infinite, would love a new version but it is insane expensive.
Paintstorm Studio - I'm trying more in this app. It;s nice.
Manga Studio [now clip paint] it's also very useful
I'm slowly trying to learn wilbur and Fractal terrains, but have less free time for that atm.

All of that software is because i have some unsolved issues with conflicts and errors somewhere between Adobe and Wacom.
The problems don't occur in any other software, just PS. But Adobe says it is wacom. shakes head.
I went ahead and got Affinity Photo and Designer to mess around with.
[geez, I talk too much ]

[Killasaurus Warbear]

Acer XB240H Abpr 24-Inch W/ G-sync
2x ASUS VS238H-P 23"
Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Intel Core I7-5820K (Overclocked to 4.4 GHz)
32 GB DDR4 RAM
NVDIA GeForce GTX 1080
1x 1TB SSD
3x 500 GB SSD
1x 3TB Hard Drive

[waldronate]

I guess that makes my almost seven year old system holds down the low end so far:

i7-3770 (not 3770K) running at standard clock (3.4GHz) with hyperthreading turned off
32GB DDR3 1333
nvidia GTX 460 1GB
650W PSU (gold-rated name brand)
1TB SSD as the boot system; there's a gaggle of spinning rust units as "normal" storage
UPS with spiffy onboard displays for voltage, power consumption, and so on
two 24" acer super-cheap 1920x1080 LCD monitors with horrifically bad color reproduction

It's running Windows 10 Pro 1803 (I'll get to 1809 one of these years).
I regularly use Photoshop 5.1 and its friends from Web Premium 5.5 all hang together out on the hard disk, but I don't see much of the others. I have installed and sometimes use CC3+, Fractal Terrains, and Wilbur. I also have one of the GDAL versions installed for GIS data import. I have ReprojectImage for those days when I'm not as interested in accuracy. Visual Studio 2017 gets pretty good use.

If you look at the hardware, you might notice that it's tuned for stability (standard clocks on everything along with more case fans than you can shake a stick at) and maximum life. I'm married and have little kids, so the opportunity for a new computer is very rare. So far, I have had the PSU, UPS, and one hard drive are the only components that have failed so far.

[sharpeggio]

I have both my laptop and my desktop! Heavy gamer here, so I built my desktop from scratch and have upgraded it here and there. Currently, it has a GTX1080 and a Core i5 (5th generation I believe). I'm posting from my laptop so I don't have all the info off the top of my head. My laptop is a surface pro , which handles photoshop excellently!