Hi all I wonder if any trader-cum-hardware guru would care to compare a 15k rpm Seagate Cheetah SAS drive to a 10k rpm WD VelociRaptor SATA drive for a computer used primarily for trading and charting on a 24/7 basis. Specifically, it will receive real-time data from Interactive Brokers for charting via TradeStation 2000i/Metaserver. Three issues: (1) Given the nature of the primary task and the large number of read/write operations from/to the disk, is the Cheetah likely to be the more reliable drive for such purpose? (2) Is the Cheetah likely to be noticeably noiser than the VelociRaptor if the computer is placed near the user, all other things being equal? (3) Could the extra heat generated by the 15k rpm drive pose a real problem if the room hosting the computer doesn't have round-the-clock air conditioning? Overall, are there any practical advantages in choosing a 15k rpm Cheetah over a VelociRaptor for the described trading/charting purposes? Your feedback, please, and thanks in advance.
For trading, charting purposes, you don't need either one of those. The standard 7200 rpm harddrives use less power, less heat, quieter, and theoretically longer life, and reliability. But whatever rocks your salt, have fun Schaefer
Agreed. I had a WD Raptor on an old Dell 8300 and it worked well . . . but it's really not needed for charting/trading platforms since most applications are internet or SSL based. In other words, they are not hard-drive "intensive" applications whatsoever. Put more money into memory.
Why bother with old-tech hard drives, when the solid state hard drives outperform them? I got rid of my Cheetahs last month and installed a 256GB solid state drive. The speed blows the old drives away, and I don't need a frickin air conditioner to cool two Cheetahs in the case! Imagine, noiseless drives! Compare them online. Stay away from 1st generation SSDs.
Wow, I just built a trading computer and did not pay much attention to the Hdd, I just looked, I don't even use 50gigs at this point... I'm checking into that solid state hdd.. it's easy to create a solid state hdd in memory with some software but I don't think any mobo's hold that much ram, not sure...
If you're building a machine to keep for several years, they are worth it. I especially like the one in my laptop. My 2 hour battery goes for 3.5 hours with one of them. The only heat and vibration generated are from the CPU and CPU cooling fan. Turn on the laptop energy system and hit 'low power' and it goes 4.5 hours. Nice! True, trading machines don't use many resources, unless your video card works a dozen monitors! Fortunately, I trade on my laptop. 15" is all I need. My friend is still stuck to his office desk to trade, and is immensely proud of his wall of LCDs. I can see those cool for Flight Simulator, but not for trading!
Can't comment on the Cheetahs but the Raptors are noisy buggers when they're busy. Thankfully they're not busy that often. :eek:
Same with the Cheetas. It's like running a damned space heater and desk vibrator in your PC box when they're busy. I don't miss them.
Samsung has a new 256GB SSD... supposedly 220mbs read, 200mbs write, and 100mbs erase. Shouldn't be long before the prices come down to reasonable levels on these things..