First, which version of edgecam are you using? I use 2014 and 2016 and using 2D geometry is easy.
In the machining tab, click Milling Cycles -> Profile Milling. You'll have the option to use Wireframe, or Solid Geometry.
For wireframe you first need to create 2D geometry off of the solid. Go to the Features tab and click Geometry, choose Copy From Edges, and create Individual Curves.
Now simply select, box select, or chain select the edges that you want to create your 2D geometry from. By default it will create the geometry exactly on the model, so it will look like it created nothing. Simply turn off the layer for the 3D model and you'll be able to see your 2D geometry. Often it's easier to have that geometry float an inch or so above the part so you can see and select it easily. To do that when you are picking your geometry there will be options at the top of the screen, click the 2D button and enter the Z value in the level box that is at the bottom near your view selection. Now any geometry you select will be "projected" to that Z level as flat, 2D geometry.
Now simply go to Machining->Milling Cycles->Profile Milling, choose wireframe, all your desired settings, and use your 2D geometry just like you would in Mastercam.
To use solid geometry you first need to manually create a feature, not feature finder. Go to the Features Tab, Click Mill, and choose Profile_Edges. Now select the edges you want to create a feature from, then the vertexes that represent the top and bottom of the feature and finish. If you don't want to select the vertexes simply right click out of it and double click the feature after the fact to manually change the level and depth.
Now use the same Profile Milling cycle and select Solid, then select the feature you created as your geometry. Remember, the level and depth you put in the feature correspond to the level and depth in the cycle. Choosing 0 for level and 0 for depth means it will profile it from top to bottom. Putting .020 in depth means it will profile down to 0.020 from the bottom of the feature.
As for video cards, your IT guy is wrong about the AMD card. Edgecam does not work properly with anything other than Nvidia cards, and officially only Quadro cards are supported. You will run into issues picking geometry off of solids if you use an AMD card, the geometry simply wont highlight and you can't pick anything. To work around this go to the settings and turn on "Use Software Rendering Only". Keep that setting on until you buy an Nvidia card. The graphics will look crappy but you'll actually be able to work.
As for slow processing times, likely it's just a slow computer, I never have to wait more than about 5min for one toolpath to calculate, and usually that's for really fine surfacing, not something simple like roughing. There are a few things you can do to speed it up, first turn off Auto-Regenerate while you're making lots of changes, it will regenerate everything in the sequence everytime you make any change, really you just want to regenerate once at the end.
If you're going to make a change to lots of cycles in one go, turn on Batch Mode, make all the changes you need, then hit regenerate and allow it to make all the changes in one long line, go get a coffee or work on something else in the mean time.
Third, for big, complicated parts double click your sequence and turn on Background Processing. You choose a safe start position that the tool returns to between each toolpath, so that changes to one toolpath don't effect the others. Now when Edgecam is calcualting changes your screen does not freeze, and calculation happens in the background and you're free to continue working on the file and adding new toolpaths. Also make sure all your "Update Stock" commands are set to Very Small, and don't update stock if you don't have to.
Hope that helps!