Indeed, i built mine almost 3 years ago for $350-$400 and it supports up to 8 monitors. Still working perfect.
You definitely don't need a top of the line i7 for trading. If you have a multi-threaded backtesting environment, it might make a difference but that implies your SSD setup would be very very fast. My $50 CPU will do the same as even 10 to 20 charts won't slow it down to a point where it runs at 100% usage. It's as if you're an uber driver and spend all your money on the most expensive rims - it's close to irrelevant.
The current socket "1151" i7 is ~ $330-$400 ... But that isn't the point. What people are saying is that you approached your computer requirements from the wrong direction. When building a computer you first need to determine its use and then build the system to those requirements. (Which you haven't stated) We can only assume by your comments that you aren't familiar with your needs and buying on specifications alone. Intensive calculations, spreadsheets, algorithms, multi tasking, etc... (or) Plotting Spy, QQQ on a couple of screens (with a few time frames: daily, hourly, 5 min), Dom on another, CNBC on another screen, ET on another For 99% of point and click traders, Swing & position traders, a $250 refurb with a 3-4 year old quad core processor and 8gb Ram, SSD is more than sufficient i5, 16gb ram, SSD is an excellent combination (but not necessary) i7 is most likely overkill Buying the biggest and most powerful beast available isn't going to make anyone a better trader... Nor is having an array of monitors, nice to have, can be a distraction for the inexperienced. You say you require "Power" because you are running 42" and 27" monitors. That doesn't require high power or expensive video cards. 42" is most likely a Television 1920 x 1080p same for your 27" monitors. These are not high resolution. The computer doesn't care the size, only the resolution. A pair of $75 video cards in a $250 refurb, $80 SSD and $50 Ram will drive 4 monitors and handle most any discretionary traders needs... If you are seeking affirmation on your purchase, you probably won't find it here on ET... People here are traders, they are always seeking efficiency... and $1,500 just isn't efficient...
Hey all I really appreciate all the feedback and comments.. I use numerous RSS Feed programs, 3 different Charting software with different prime brokers. Run CNBC bloomberg tv on my setup .. have a dedicated options feed coming in for algorithmic trading and testing. I am a big news trader so I have numerous sites running as well. Auto refresh and streaming sites. Numerous charts running on each monitor.. I may have overdone it yes but better safe than sorry for me .. 1500 for a trader on a system should not be an issue. When problems could possibly occur itll cost me more than that I can guarantee it
Don't get discouraged.. yes, it may be an overkill, may be not: depends on your usage. I would strongly recommend to use nothing outside of trading. I see iTunes on my hedge fund friends' computers on occasion. Of course, I don't comment, even though I cringe. People tend to overvalue money and undervalue time. You saved and bought yourself a lot of time [if you use it properly] I use old workstations for trading and new, powerful machines for my media projects. Yes, one can do well with off-lease $300 workstations, when the person has the knowledge. We lose more in one trade than the equipment capex. Let it serve you well. I would second the suggestions to duplicate/clone critical hardware and software. Later on you may learn how to get by on a shoestring, and that can be fun too. I wish you to make a lot of money and have many more choices of better therapies instead. I just saw that you use a lot of RSS-news-TV junk on the same box. I'd never do this, but it's your call. Cheap laptops, running BSD or Linux for that. I am afraid, those are all recipes for a financial ruin. The media streaming, RSS, etc. are buggy and contagious - I would separate them (if possible). When your computer locks due to the scripting bugs, it doesn't matter how powerful it is..
I really appreciate that.. I agree, I can lose that in one trade lol I do look for deals and I mentioned my setup if anyone knows of a place I could have saved a little more for my next setup
you should have lead with that... $1,500 isn't a big deal for most of us, but as a Trader I am always looking to optimize and find efficiency's. I built my son's gaming system and it cost more than two of my trading systems... Video Cards, i7, memory etc... But I prefer to isolate my order execution system from my charting system and once again my general use system... surfing, Office, etc... (three systems ~ the same cost as your i7) (i5 - 256 samsung SSD - 16gb) which has been my sweet spot for value and performance (yes, I like monitors also, 30" 2560x1600 - driven by Nvidia video cards, what ever I have laying around... don't need high performance video, just able to handle the resolution $50-$75 card ( ~ 1 gb onboard memory) as an FYI the purchase price doesn't change the cost of problems... having spare parts laying around, knowing how install them and having system images does... 1,000% more effective than some 800 number which will tell you to eventually re-install your operating system before they address the real issues...