Well... I am no longer the person in our house who knows all the "stuff" about computers. My husband took an interest about the time I started digi scrapping in 2006 and since then he's taken care of my computer needs. I do have a laptop that I use occasionally for scrapping, but I much prefer a desktop and two nice big monitors. So, my husband actually built a computer for me. I have a super fast motherboard, tons of RAM and THE most important thing that speeds me up is I have my operating system and my programs on a solid state drive (SSD). They are unbelievably fast compared to regular hard drives. Photoshop literally opens in about 2 seconds. Saving is darn near instant, even on a large MANY layered PSD file.
Do you know anyone (or yourself) that is confident enough to order a case and the components and put them together to make your own computer? It doesn't take long and then you'd have to install Windows and your own programs. That takes the longest, but still, not bad. I ordered all the stuff I wanted from NewEgg.com and I think the total bill for my super speed computer was $660. I did not have to buy a few components like the case or the power supply in that total because the old ones worked still, but that was for everything else inside new. Let me know if you're interested in this route and I can give you more specifics on the components I'm using.
