1) Get one of these: http://www.icc-usa.com/Itemdesc.asp?Cartid={AF92E654-7BD9-4E0B-9501-62D681864920}&ic=SYS-7033A-T 2) Add 2 3.0 Xeon CPU's, 2 SI SATA drives, and 2 GB of ECC Memory. 3) Get one of these: http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/g200_mms/home.cfm 4) Get four of these:http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=296256 Note that the Samsungs in 4) above are the 191T+. I believe these are narrow digital. Make sure that the Matrox cables work with these monitorts. If not, then just get the 191T. If you tell ICC what you want, they will put it all together for you as well as do a "burn in." Otherwise, go here for a store that may be closer to you:http://www.supermicro.com/To_Buy/WhereToBuy.htm This computer will be quiet, blazingly fast, reliable, and have redundant mirrored drives. The equivalent machine/setup from DELL, if they even make it, would cost you 40% more from DELL. The one nice thing about DELL is the "ease" of shopping with them, but you pay for it. nitro (<- my daughter got a peek of these icons while I was typing this. After today, all of my postings will probably contain a bunch of them randomly thru my posts.)
I have a machine that is not as powerful as this (2.4 Xeons, and older way less powerful MB.) However, I am always running up against the wall in CPU and HD bandwidth. Granted, I am not a typical user, as I am running realtime scans on the entire market on my computer, and have eight monitors of stuff open on top of that. But why not get state of the art? This machine will only be slightly more than a "comparable" DELL in price but that is 1/2 the machine. nitro
Well, you can run full power with my machine here too, only difference is that you can not hear it. Sometimes I walk in and think I switch it on but then I switched it off. Thats what I call luxury.
If the link below does not work, just continue shopping and look for the Xeon 533 workstation. The machine that it refers to is on their website is the: === Supermicro® SuperWorkstation 7033A-T Price: $763.68 Tower ⢠Dual Xeon up to 3.06GHz+ ⢠FSB533 ⢠Up to 8GB DDR ⢠ZCRINT support ⢠2 SI SATA controllers ⢠Dual port Gigabit ⢠AGP 8X (CPU, Memory and HDD Not Included) === nitro
Assuming you will use the new PC for trading, here are some things to consider that I've learned the hard way: Performance: 1.) Match the CPU to your trading platform. If you use TradeStation, get the fastest as TS offers so many features you will want to use, it can suck a good PC dry. 2.) Get at least 1G of memory. Even if you don't think you need it right now, you will. Security: 3.) Hard drives: Use Raid 1 or 0+1 to allow for drive failure. I use Promise Tech FastTrak Tx2000 controller cards that provide automatic failover and restore. Raid1 = 2 drives that mirror. Raid 0+1 = 4 drives that both mirror and stripe. Safety plus performance. 4.) Get an imaging software and use it often. I really like PowerQuest Drive Image 7. It runs within Windows even with open apps and you can schedule backups. You can restore individual files & folders as well as the entire drive. The benefit of image over file backup is file backup only applies to data files. It's worthless for OS & applications. I can restore a complex drive in under 30 minutes vs a full day to reinstall and tweak everything. If the bulls are running, you cannot afford not to have this! 5.) Get a UPS large enough to power your PC, monitor, cable modem and anything else you need for trading. Size matters in this case. If you have frequent power outages of reasonable duration, you need one that lasts a bit longer than the average outage. I have 3 APC BackUps Pro 1400 units for my 3 PCs that will support the setup for 30 minutes. 6.) Don't use a built-in network card as a surge can fry your mother board. Often a separate nic will burn without damaging the motherboard. 7.) Have a good battery lantern for room lighting. It doesn't help to have the PC on if you cannot see the keyboard. In the winter, the market opens in the dark where I live. I like the large florescent units that light a room. 8.) Put your broker's trading desk number on the speed dial of both your regular and cell phones. A car hitting a pole can bring both phone and cable down in one shot. No data = panic and not a good time to be looking for the number. These add to the overall cost of a new PC, but consider them as an investment. Of course if you trade little accounts as a hobby, adjust accordingly. I trade for a living and cannot afford to be out of the market for equipment failures. I didn't mention it above, but I even have a backup PC with everything loaded in case the whole PC goes kaput. You'll end up doing what's right for you. These are just suggestions that are often overlooked. I've needed every one except the separate nic - but I have one anyway and the built in nic disabled.
Does anyone know what type of motherboards dell puts in their computers or where I can find out ?? TY