i5 machine with 8gig of ram should work fine. SSD will pep things up but not essential and I agree dual monitors do improve productivity, make sure they are good quality though and make sure your colour management is set up properly. Nothing worse than seeing one thing on screen and printing something very different. I have bought 4 or 5 monitors from morgan computers, they are refurbished but very very good value 24" upto 27" - www.morgancomputers.co.uk - the site is well worth a visit