In my experience, most full time manual traders can get by with: I5 Quad Core Win 7 64bit or higher-I would use 10 64 bit 16 GB of RAM Video card with 2 to 4 digital outs A more than adequate power supply any DVD drive 2 to 4- 24" monitors that can handle 1920x1200 (I would use 3) SSD Drive of at least 120 GB-For only trading, if also for your primary machine 256GB with a 1TB hard drive for music/pictures/backup (use this for your cloud accounts) If you go to Dell or HP, the non-standard items get very expensive like more than 8GB of RAM, video card and SSD drive. Also, the higher resolution monitors can double the cost, but they make a big difference by adding more screen space up and down. I also think it is VERY important to have a backup system, even if it is an old PC or a laptop. Have your laptop turned on, with all the same software loaded but not running, just in case. I don't build my own to make a better PC, but to save money. There is nothing wrong with calling Dell and getting a custom computer setup. The customs stuff can make it 25% to 40% more than doing it yourself, while there is little savings from a stock PC. I also find the Dell computers are very quiet, while whatever I build is not.
Long story, read if you want to know my experience, skip it otherwise. It's the weekend. I had an Acer that kept packing up and Scat told me to go with Dell, consumer class stuff isn't built to be on 18 hours a day. I went with the Precision T-3600, 3 27" monitors, 16 gigs RAM. I had in mind two drives, an SSD and a 1 TB HDD as built-in backup. They set it up as RAID 0, without asking, and why I don't know, from what I understand RAID drives should be of similar size. My fault, I should have told them it wasn't going to be a server, or maybe they should have asked; RAID 0 with a 256 GB SSD and a 1 TB HDD? As part of the deal, this being a business class machine, I had NBD onsite service for 3 years, and I chose the 5 year warranty for the monitors. After a short few months, one monitor developed a blue vertical line smack down the middle. They replaced it NBD I think, onsite, but I ran a check on the SN and it was built well before mine. I called them back and said my monitor was really pretty new, and whilst I understood why they'd give a refurbished one, at least give me a newer build than mine, given it was such a short period. They swapped and gave me a new one. The HDD developed bad sectors a few months later (Sierra Charts started acting weird) during warranty period, NBD onsite replacement. After lugging that wretched Acer to the service centre, having a tech come over to my home office and do the job was great. As I have a quant approach to trading, it wasn't long before I got tired of waiting for 16 gigs RAM to do the job. Asked Dell for a quote to up it to 48 gigs, almost fainted. Watched many YouTube videos, went out and bought 2x16 gigs memory modules and installed them myself. Never worked on a PC before, but it turned out OK. I recently extended the NBD onsite service for another 2 years. Cheap, peace of mind. Any regrets? None. Yes, everyone will tell you you don't need a server class rig for trading. That's probably true, but my rig is rock solid stable, Dell does an automatic BIOS update as and when, I have a full range of online diagnostics for hardware and software when anything strange happens, like the HDD having bad sectors. I don't know about you, I want my rig to be like my fridge. It's just there and it works. I have my rig to trade, as long as it works the way it should when I power on, I don't want to know anything more about it. Money well spent.
Probably none. Years ago Dell Dimension used IBM mobos, but in a cost-cutting move they later switched to Foxconn OEM (with IBM specs). The only Dell computers I use and recommend are from the Precision line. Yes, they still have Foxconn OEM mobos, but I have had virtually no trouble with them for 10 years. My current crop of Precisions is 7 years old and still rolling without a hitch. Also, tech support with a Precision workstation gets you service from an American who speaks English. That said, I suspect a gamer board from a name brand maker would likely have at least some degree of higher performance. Much depends upon the CPU/GPU. Dell Precisions with E5-26xx CPUs are very fast. The E5-1620/1630 are also very fast, but not quite as fast as the E5-26xx. Last time I checked, HP was using Foxconn mobos also.
Oh, and if I might add, lugging the Acer to the service centre wasn't the end of it. I'm don't know how it works in the States, over here, no matter what the problem is, it is come back in 3-5 days. With the Dell, it has always been NBD onsite, fixed on the spot. If you've had to manage positions on an iPhone 3GS while your rig was in the service centre, no spreadsheets and all that data you've analysed, you'd understand why it's worth paying for a business class rig.
I wouldnt say slower, but as they add more features to the OS, it gets more bloated, uses more memory etc. In some areas Windows 10 is actually faster.
Not for me, it is the opposite. But I must say the migration was a real pain. The first thing that happened was I lost internet connectivity, big deal when you are setting up. I had to use the iPad to search for similar experiences, then used my old PC to check settings were similar in Win 10; they weren't, changed for whatever reason.
man it sure would be helpful if someone out there started a business selling quality PCs to people with quality parts/components without charging 2 to 4 grand like most of the custom shops... For now, I guess there's Asus. If anyone knows of anyone else please chime in
Very quiet actually. I have the air-conditioner on whenever I have the rig on, and one time I thought the rig had a hum from the fan. Couldn't place it listening up close, so I switched off the A/C and that was the end of it. Thank goodness, I was worried a bearing had worn out or something. I have the AMD FirePro V4900 graphics card, not really high end, but it is what I asked them to put in, and it isn't stretched for charting.