[Qgis-user] Technical specifications

[Greg Troxel]

Sébastien LAGARDE via QGIS-User <qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org> writes:

Keep in mind that I have not used QGIS in a super serious way, and
haven't even tried to figure out how much resources it needs, other that
on my desktop (a hand-me-down machine that was high end in 2014, with 24
GB RAM), it runs fine.

There's a huge question not asked or answered, which is about operating
system.  I personally would not even consider using Windows, but that's
me :-)

> GIS operator Workstation (standard use)
>
>   *   Intel i5 or higher (12th gen) or AMD equivalent
>   *   16 Gb RAM
>   *   512 Gb HD but only SSD or even better PCI / NVME drives
>   *   Small dedicated graphic card (any entry level card with 2-4 Gb of dedicated memory)
>   *   1 Gb network

This seems reasonable, but:

  Knowing how much disk one needs requires a plan of how the system is
  going to to be used.  With most data in a database, the question would
  be then how much imagery you will have locally.

  In 2023, I can't recommend buying any computer for desktop use with
  less than 32 GB of RAM.  Almost always, my computers have become
  unusable due to low RAM, before anything else, usually after more than
  10 years.  If it is easily possible to upgrade, and there's evidence
  that running QGIS and other things at once (browser, mail client, ?)
  really fits in 16 GB *without any need to page anything back in*, then
  maybe that's ok.  But it strikes me as likely too little.  (If it's
  not easily possible to upgrade, buying a 16 GB computer is just plain
  unwise IMHO.)

> GIS analyst Workstation (double up) :
>
>   *   Intel i7or higher (12th gen) or AMD equivalent
>   *   32Gb RAM
>   *   1 Tb HD but only SSD or even better PCI / NVME drives
>   *   dedicated graphic card (4 Gb of dedicated memory)
>   *   1 Gb network

Again I might go higher in RAM.

> And don’t forget to include in your quotations good interfaces
> (screens = min of 2*24 “, good keyboard and High DPI mouse), we tend
> to neglect them and use what comes was standard with orders but good
> large screens and a comfortable mouse does change your long term
> experience !!

Great advice.  I'm running with one monitor now but this would be a big
improvement.