Been trading off a laptop with 2 monitors attached. Laptop monitor doesnt count as its too small. However recently laptop is making lots of noise-(probably due to dust buildup) and its been slowing down. Was wondering what yall would recommend? According to some searching, seems like i5-i7 is fine as long as the RAM is high. I mainly use thinkorswim for charting/ ninjatrader/ib for execution. Ideally I would love to have more charts and monitors . Main focus is no lag when markets are moving heavily.
well. depends on what sort of traders you are. I use 2 computers, one 42" monitor, three 32" monitors for day trading. mostly lag problem is due to charting software problem (perhaps software bug, server down ...), or very heavy internet or exchange traffic. when such problems occur, nothing much we can do other then stop trading.
Go to pcpartspicker.com ; If you are a “do it yourselfer” you can put together a nice system for about 30% off retail. It will check all your parts for compatibility. Mostly a site for gamers but you can browse other individuals system builds and come up with something that will suit your needs for a fair price and understand the trade offs for better pricing. I just built a new system using that site. Ryzen 2700 based system 32gb of ddr4ram ; older 6gb GeForce video and a 3 monitor setup ; 2x34inch lg and 1x25inch lg ; fast system for trading. I use it for nothing else. Lots of ideas from gamers who always want more speed and bang for the buck. Just my 2 cents.
AMD APU (CPU and GPU combined) will run four monitors at 4K for less than an intel chip that will run three monitors if you have the right motherboard. No need to upgrade the motherboard when new AMD chip is released.
I absolutely recommend pcpartspicker. Used it for the last 2 PCs I built. The latest is a monster desktop (32-core threadripper, 64 GB RAM, 2080TI, SSD, etc, etc). Don't worry about not knowing how to put it together, YouTube is enough and if you ever get stuck, I'll be happy to jump on Skype with you.
I don't use Ninja Trader, but from what I've been able to search it's not too demanding on the system. Assuming this is correct, then 1. Just about any modern computer will be fine. Most trading applications require very little power from the CPU/GPU. i3, i5, i7, Xeon, AMD... all OK. My personal preference is Dell Precision Workstation with Xeon. If new(ish) is desired, pick up from Dell Outlet site... save $30-40% and still get full warranty. (HP and Lenovo have equivalent models.) 2. Would want a motherboard capable of running desired graphics. Any mobo with 2, PICEx16 slots should be good. (This requirement eliminates the cheapest computers which may have only 1 x16 slot.) An Nvidia NVS 310 video card will run 2x, 2560x1600 monitors.... can pick up on eBay usually for $30 or less. I've used 2 of them for years in my trading rig. Higher resolution display (UHD) will require a more powerful/expensive video card. (Apparently some of the newer CPUs have onboard video or the mobo has a separate video chip which can run more than 1 monitor adequately... might check into that before buying video cards. Used to be that having "onboard video" was the hallmark of an el-cheapo machine... apparently not so much these days? That said... if you're going to trade, you want hardware that is reliable. The "cheapest thing you can find" likely not the best choice.... unless you're buying "used, quality", of course.) 3. RAM. 8GB is likely plenty. More isn't necessarily better. (Why pay for extra RAM if your applications are not using it?) Check Task Manager to see how much RAM is actually in use when all trading environment apps are running. My W7 rig runs only about 1.5GB in use. Of course if a trader wants to run photoshop on his trading rig, then more RAM would benefit.
On top of decent CPU and RAM, be sure to use ethernet connections, not wifi; SSD and not Hard Disk, and have your networking card (NIC) configured properly in your PCs.
I despise windows, but need excel macros, so... My son wanted a Falcon-NW rig for esports gaming. The lead time was something like 8 weeks due to the CPU migration. I went to Dell/Alienware and bought him a water cooled system with a GTX 1080 Ti. $3,600 delivered with the 3Y onsite. I use the machine during the trading day while he's at school. Crazy fast and overkill, but fills are marginally (noticeably) faster when sending COB orders. I tested the hypothesis with the Alienware vs. a Mac trashcan by sending the same order on each machine, both were routed to CBOE via TOS. So I bought the identical machine to run at my desk. We can play CS:GO together.