Hi MM Thanks for the info. There are several discussions going on here about which mobo is best for the Opteron 146 Socket 939 chips - I am going back there now to make sure I have this straight - maybe I've made a mistake!? http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=1728830&enterthread=y also http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=28&threadid=1711047&enterthread=y The main reason I wanted to go with an Opteron is the 1 MB cache vs. 512 for the Athlon - thought it would be better for multi-tasking. What do you think? Yes, your points about how much time it will take to maintain the system and warranty are very well taken - I will not be able to troubleshoot it by myself, and using forums like AnandTech works but it takes a lot of time, which I don't have. When you say you don't like on-board video cards for workstations... lol, I am such a raw newb, I am not sure if a home desktop PC like the one I want would be considered a 'workstation' - is that what you mean? I seem to be hijacking this thread - maybe I should start another one. I hope the OP can get something out of checking the forums at anandtech - there are a lot of helpful people over there. www.anandtech.com
Wow, that is a great deal with monitor in. The box alone will be more than that for the rig I am planning and it's single core.
Nik, I read those links. The reason those people want the Opteron 1xx is because of its overclock ability. Opteron is the professional line. The chipsets designed for Opteron dont allow much flexibility (overclocking) since those chipsets value stability over overclocking. Those people modify the socket 939 boards to accept the opteron so they can overclock better. PC modders are like car tuners. If a car tuner could make a Civic run as good as a Porsche even though with the money invested he can easily buy a porsche, he will do it. That's his pride. Same thing go for PC modders. Making an overclocking system stable is not easy. You got to have good Power supply, good cooling parts (fan, case, heatsink), good memory and motherboard. Good = expensive. The new Athlon also got 1MB L2 and faster FSB (1000 vs 800). Without overclocking, Athlon will beat Opteron in perfomance and price. I hope this help. PS: Building a system is a great joy. If the satisfaction of getting things done your way important to you, I wish you best luck.
Hi MM Okay, thank you for taking the time. I have no desire to be modding anything. I will make sure I know what the hell I am buying into before I make a decision. I am off to find the Athlon chip with the 1MB cache that you mentioned. In the beginning I had decided on an Athlon 3200+ Venice core 939 chip; maybe I will end up back there.
I have built a couple pc's. Abit motherboard, Corsair low latency memory, fast Intel chip etc. Overclocking is fine for fun and games, I took a 2.4 C chip to 3.4 with no sweat, BUT, keep this is mind. For the TRADING ENTRY machine, i went with IBM workstations, now that IBM has sold the Pc business i will go to Hewlett Packard workstation for order entry with X_TRADER. Stability and reliability is what i want in the order entry machine. Fast at home service also. Sure i can build a fast, great pc for half the price, but what happens in the order entry machine if the Motherboard croaks? Send it back to Taiwan, and wait forever as the mkt keeps going. No thanks, i would rather call HP abd have them send the guy out either the sdame day or the next. Tradeoffs, always tradeoffs, such is life...........some things are fine for fun but others are for stability etc. The next HP workstation will be dual core fastest chip INTEL will have out, Windows xp pro (to be replaced with VISTA as soon as it comes out, dam Mister Softy is slow on that), fastest 2 gig of memory available at the time, 2 hard drives for raid-0 setup, the hard drives will be 10k for speed, NCQ, best 2D video card for 2 monitors. High power supply, etc. Some things i would like but they do not have is like aluminum case, quiet fans etc. The order entry machine will be loaded with X-TRADER, the stuff for the VPN and whatever else needed to get X setup for entry. Nothing else, no e-mail, no games, no web browsing favorites etc. Once a week on weekends i will run a virus scan, spyware etc, then SHUT all that down for the week, nothing running in the background to slow the machine down. I even get in there and shut off the unnecessary processes. turn the machine on about 0800ET and shut it down when the ES closes, actually when the pit closes at 1615, or sooner if the day is over sooner. The point of this is: Keep your order entry machine nice and clean, free of the junk, keep it fast and enjoy. PS, getting some longer cables so the pc's (3) will be in the other room, that way my trading seperate room will be nice and quiet. Hey, if shooting for the days run, get in, get filled, place the objective stop, place the loss stop and maybe take a NAP....
Hyperthreading is a complete waste of time and has been for a while. All it truly is here is hype to sell. It slows down apps in most cases. Also, Intel's memory controllers are on the motherboard, whereas if you go AMD64, the mem control is on the chip. That is more effecient. Intel basically uses Microsoft tactics to sell products.
Agree about all the fast and free of junk stuff ... but the quickest service restoration is having my key software also running on one of the kids machines (with dial up in case the broadband goes down). No service contract. Nice self constructed pc for performance and price. 3-15 minutes to recover from most potential faults I like the long cables idea too ... cheaper than quieting the pc and more flexible positioning of keyboard, mouse and screens.
On Hyperthreading, it causes miscelaneous problems. I have just solved a problem with data flow from TWS stopping with one particular app by disabling hyperthreading at the insistence of the app vendor. worked like a charm. From unuseable to problem free. I also found my menu selection was no longer lagging and also my video card seems to have a known issue with hyperthreading. As I understand it very few programs are written to utilise this and so it is all downsde and no upside so disable it.
kiwi trader yes, i also do install important software on another pc in case of a hardware failure. The longer cables can cost a few bucks, but so what, all good ideas cost money.... you pinged my thoughts back to building another pc, actually this time around i could use 2 new ones since 1 is now 3 years old. Maybe a HP workstation toned down some for the charts pc. Then start ordering parts of top quality for the new "BUILD", or maybe still wait until "VISTA". KIWI, as in New Zealand?......
Bighog, your system seems an overkill to me. Why do you need a seperate order machine? How do you manage the internet connection with multiple machines? Thanks.