Sorry if this question gets asked every day... i browsed a few of the FAQ's some of them were pretty dated and im not really a hardware guy so i dont know if its out of date.... I want to backtest in MC as well as algo trades running run ib's TWS run TOS with heavy scripting and multiple charts run Chrome with at least 10 tabs open run Spotify Run Office and Excel is this too much computer? Im looking at the Dell XPS Special Edition http://deals.dell.com/productdetail/11iq thanks in advance for any help!
Hey Joebone, that machine seems nice to me, but maybe another idea: why not split it up and dedicate one PC just for trading and trading related stuff, and another machine for internet, music, youtube and other dirty stuff (porn :-D ). That way each machine does not have that much simultaneous workload and you can just buy 2 medium priced machines instead of one high end monster. And it is easier that way to make sure nothing corrupts your trading and your trading PC remains clean.
This question gets asked every month on ET, Any computer that was born within the last eight years or so will be fine for trading. Trading is not a complicated or demanding or advance thing to do. Tech-wise. I recently bought a new/used laptop on eBay...just two days ago, it's going to arrive tomorrow. I only paid $290 for it. HP 17.3" screen, 1920x1080 resolution, i5 2.5Ghz cpu, 8GB memory, 320GB hard drive, 1GB video card. Great deal. I got the best priced one available. Amateurs may see photos of trading desks with alot of monitors...and assume they need a Spaceship advance, expensive computer. That couldn't be further from the truth. Trading is essentially just a basic website page. Predicting and managing and monitoring its future and present moment. You need a more advance computer to play Hungry Angry Parrot Birds rather then for trading, in 2018.
I agree with Lawrence-Lugar. Most people vastly overestimate how much computer they need to do trading. Three recommendations: Check out Dell-Outlet to save money; Get Windows Pro instead of Windows Home; Instead of 4 PCIe 256GB SSD drives, get one PCIe 500GB drive and partition it in two (one for the Operating System, the other for heavily used data and applications). Rarely used data and archived data you can put on the 2TB hard drive.
I have 2 dedicated PCs for automation, bare bones-but neither does trading-standby, and bought a Dell 17", 500GB drive with 3 year warranty brand new from Walmart for $375 in Nov 2017 for very little manual trading, shipped to the store so no shipping costs. I have some older machines I do backtesting, etc and Acer 17" for email, it used to be machine used for manual so it is five years old-think I paid $300. I use to spend thousands for equipment, not any more. Fast Internet is for me wishy washy cause I live near the border, so automation are on others' servers near the exchanges where those are traded. If you going to do scalping, fast day trading, multiple orders and have platform coded to help or fully programmed, Internet speed most important, but everything else much less so. If you can afford, get 3 laptops, 1 for dedicated trading, another for backup, and 3rd email, surfing etc. Getting best resolution and video card more important for your eyes than most anything else. I don't notice any speed difference between regular drives and SSD.
AND, when one of the machines develops an issue (memory, GPU, keyboard, freakin' mouse goes south...), you have a working spare up+running right there. As others note, trading itself really doesn't draw much computing umph -- it's all the windows and the regular (and unreasoning) increases in media load that really drives our society-wide need for more more more computing power. Let your trading computer cruize along with a happy, light load, and let the media-mash occupy a second machine.
I scalp. I use a laptop..Ipad and pay as you go internet connection for trading using my ipad as a hotspot..ROFLMAO. Scalp while my wife drives 70 mph down interstate. Scalp while traveling in the Motor Home. Can scalp while fishing on the river bank or in a fishing skiff. Can scalp while eating breakfast or lunch BUT that one does piss my wife off. If I scalp 1 to 5 points OVER and OVER in ES, and 10 to 50 points in the YM, and 3 to 15 points in the NQ, all while racing down the highway using THE IPAD as a hotspot. So.....if I can scalp using minimal equipment and minimal connection why does a body need all that fancy gear? When at home I trade on satellite hughes net internet as no cable where I live but i can scalp while gardening...ROFLMAO. I can even plant curvy sexy rows of corn with my curvy sexy wife and trade at the same time!
The one thing missing from Dell systems is a decent cooling system. Algos can be quite data intensive and require constant CPU use.