I am in the market for a new computer that will work well with Chief Architect.

[MarkMc]

I also do kitchens. I only use laptops since I do a number or appointments at clients home, but they do cost more. Like others prefer the ability to customize but also have used some with limited modifications available as do several others on the board.
I run 3 monitors all the time, one is a displaylink through the USB port ( take that one to clients), latest laptop can handle 3 standard monitors plus USB monitors.
Make sure the video card is a gaming card, not a CAD card. Since laptops don't upgrade easily I get as much CPU power as I can afford.

A note on closing jobs- I use former clients Raytraces to entice, but don't do one for the client until I have a retainer. Prefer to invest my time in layouts first. Relatively quick running RTs still more than satisfy clients. The time is in getting colors right, putting their counter and floor in, background photos of a doing rooms, countertop items, and lighting. Check threads on "crappy Raytraces ".