Buying my First Trading Rig - What Should I Buy?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by aeliodon, Dec 17, 2008.


  1. Thanks for the post.
    I configured a Dell with XP below:


    Price: $1208

    PROCESSOR Intel™ Core®2 Quad Q6600 (2.40GHz/1066MHz/2X4MB L2) 375W edit
    OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Business Bonus-Windows XP Professional downgrade edit
    WARRANTY & SERVICE 3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service edit
    VIDEO CARD 256MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX570, Dual Monitor DVI Capable edit
    CHASSIS CONFIGURATION AND 1394 Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration edit
    MEMORY 2GB, 667MHz, DDR2 SDRAM Memory, NECC (2 DIMMS) edit
    OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD+/-RW w/ Cyberlink PowerDVD™ and Roxio Creator™ Dell Ed edit
    HARD DRIVE/RAID CONFIGURATION C1, All SATA, NO RAID for 1 Hard Drive edit
    HARD DRIVE 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ and 8MB DataBurst Cache™ edit
    MONITOR Dell 19 inch™ E1909W Widescreen Flat Panel edit
    2ND MONITOR Dell 19 inch™ E1909W Widescreen Flat Panel edit
    FILE SYSTEM NTFS File System edit
    SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION Resource DVD - contains Diagnostics and Drivers edit
    My Accessories
    SPEAKERS No Speaker option edit
    KEYBOARD USB Entry Quietkey, No Hot Keys edit
    MOUSE Dell USB 2-Button Mechanical Mouse with Scroll edit
    FLOPPY & MEDIA READER No Floppy Drive edit
    My Software
    SECURITY McAfee® Total Protection for Small Business, 15 Month edit
    My Services & Warranties
    ON-SITE SYSTEM SETUP No Onsite System Setup edit
    ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
    Labels Windows Vista® Premium
     
    #11     Dec 18, 2008
  2. I configured an HP that is capable of supporting two monitors:


    Price: $1249

    HP Pavilion Elite m9400t customizable Desktop PC
    FK484AV#ABA

    * – Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
    * – Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad processor Q6600 (2.4GHz)
    * – FREE UPGRADE! To 4GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM (4x1024) from 2GB
    * – 512MB ATI Radeon HD 3650 [DVI, VGA, HDMI]
    * – FREE UPGRADE! to 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB
    * – Wireless-N LAN card and external modem
    * – LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
    * – 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, 1394, audio
    * – No TV Tuner w/remote control
    * – Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
    * – Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
    * – SAVE $10! Norton Internet Security(TM) 2009 - 15 month
    * – No speakers
    * – HP wireless keyboard and HP wireless optical mouse
    * – HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
    * Includes 2 19 inch monitors
     
    #12     Dec 18, 2008
  3. You and your goddam t-3400. Vostro runs just as good and much cheaper (g).

    Actually I am thinking about getting a new 'puter too. I may get one built with the new Intel i7 chip.


    John
     
    #13     Dec 18, 2008
  4. And yet the motherboard on the Vostro does NOT support two Dual PCI Express x16 graphics cards.
     
    #14     Dec 18, 2008
  5. I'am just messin' with you. I may be buying the t-3400 too.

    John


    PS. Vostro will take a pny pci card though as am running 3 monitors off of a Vostro (g)
     
    #15     Dec 18, 2008
  6. I'll go with the Dell T3400 but I think HP Pavilion Elite m9400t offers a lot more.

    Is Vista and a 64 bit operating system really that bad?
     
    #16     Dec 18, 2008
  7. not really, as long as you have sufficient cycles. You also have to ask yourself what happens as support of XP dies down, and the world moves on to Vista over the next few years.

    I have been running Vista for awhile without the problems. Slow your system? Perhaps or not. But XP is becoming antiquated and Vista is continuously improved. You have to pick your poison.

    A lot of people who grind against Vista are just XP friends, or had a problem initially with Vista and then abandoned it. There is a huge number of people on Vista.
     
    #17     Dec 18, 2008
  8. opt789

    opt789

    You don’t want to run Vista on a $1000 machine, you will most likely not be happy. I am running Vista 64bit and I like it but I have a high end machine. My secondary computer is considerably more powerful than what you are looking at and I chose to put XP on it. Since you said you don’t know much about computers make sure you are getting a good warranty and phone support.

    Definitely go with XP 32bit for a low priced computer for now. I believe Microsoft has made it clear that XP will be supported until Windows 7 comes out which will replace Vista.
     
    #18     Dec 18, 2008
  9. dancalio

    dancalio

    I have a computer with Vista and one with XP.

    Vista works pretty much fine, but you will likely find some technical difficulty at some point. The way I see it, is all that Vista offers for the majority of users is a bit of eye-candy. You trade that for some stability from XP. Might as well go with XP.

    Oh, and I'd really stay away from the 64 bit OS unless you really have a use for it. It's the difference between vista and XP, but magnified. I.e., you are bound to have some annoying compatibility/stability issues that just aren't worth it.

    I have a t3400 in shipment right now. I chose the XP "downgrade".
     
    #19     Dec 18, 2008
  10. gnome

    gnome

    Nope. The T3400 is SIGNIFICANTLY superior.

    HP does have a more-or less-equivalent workstation model (the HPxw---- line), but it costs more than the T3400.
     
    #20     Dec 18, 2008