I'd chose an ATX size 1333/1066Mhz motherboard instead of micro-ATX for better future expandability. I'd pick a 8800GT vs. the 8800GTS if given a choice because it's supposed to be superior and cheaper, though it was just released and is hard to find atm. I know the Raptors are excellent, though expensive, but I never heard of that model duo...was it a typo? Onboard sound is usually enough for me so that should be OK. I don't know anything about the case or PSU mentioned, however. But adding up what that setup should cost I think he got an unbelievable deal. The Raptors alone cost $360. The 8800GTS is around $250. The MB, CPU, and OS are all over $100 each.
Guess typo as I just copied and pasted it from the email he had sent me about it. $700.00 is what he paid..He said it was a very good price. Thanks for the info and good luck to you.
I'm guessing that the "the biggest baddest video card you can afford" would be a gamer's dream and serious overkill for trading - no? It seems most recent threads recommend NVDA quad card as being best-of-breed for trading applications (I currently run an ATI-based quad card in my PCI express slot). 3 years ago, I went w/ a dual xeon workstation from Dell w/ 4 monitors ($$$). Along the way, I've had many issues because of it's 'uniqueness'. I'm just coming off 2 more days of downtime due to 'uniqueness'. The onsite repair guy and I had some discussions and I don't know that I would go w/ another raid setup (or workstation). Right now, I'm leaning toward a fast system w/ multi-cores (hopefully one of the major charting services will eventually support multi-threading) and a laptop b/u. The laptop would also serve as a travelling trading system (ideally w/ support for multi-monitors). R
LOL. I won't go into detail, but suffice to say I disagree with your assertion he needs SCSI. I think gnome has probably made more money here than all of us put together with the crapiest computer you ever laid eyes on. So as far as your comment about money making tools goes, it has more to do with ability than what kind of hard drive you have. But what do I know...
Well, today I finally ran Task Manager to see what was going on with CPU usage, and during normal usage it was around 10% peaking to 20%. However as I put Citibank into the ScottradeElite TotalView window and the spikes were nearing 100%. It is clear that when the computer freezes the CPU usage is hitting 100%. I want to reiterate the freezing and 100% CPU usage occur while using TotalView while the quotes are coming in fast on a heavily traded stock (during extreme panic buying and selling times). I'm beginning to feel that a dual or quad core may be the solution since even if TotalView bogs down one core, I have the other core(s) to run the other apps like Java. Since my computer is Socket A I have to buy a new system.
My point was stability and I said IF he CANT lose his information. I guess you missed that part. Otherwise I dont think SCSI is "needed" but it will provide a proformance improvement. If you feel that someone who makes a lot of money and in doing so needs to use a computer should not get the best in quality then I guess your entittled to your opinion. In my opinion computers are cheap and to try to save a few hundred dollars over the course of a two year useful life doesnt make sense.
To clarify, I would suggest one that has top ratings for problem free use and LOTS of memory. I assumed your use was multi monitor and so the biggest choice(s) will be how much memory. I think you made a good choice with the system that you bought, although the XEON part is debatable as to need. I have had good luck with both DELL laptops and DELL servers (currently using a server for a workstation that runs well) aside from the lack of display size due to being a laptop, my laptop runs IB and tradestation just fine. (multi-core with 1 gb ram) Best of luck
Here is another idea to look at http://elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=106437&perpage=6&pagenumber=1
I use two laptops (one with 3 external monitors hooked up to it) for my trading station. When I travel, I can take both laptops with me (both have 17" LCDs). I used to run everything on one laptop with the 3 externals, but I found TradeStation was hogging my CPU capacity at times of high volume, interferring with my Ninja Trader platform. So by moving TS to one laptop and keeping NT and other programs on another (both with duo core processors and 2meg ram) everything has been running quite smoothly with no capacity constraints, no matter how active the markets get. I highly recommend the Matrox Triple Head to Go to connect 3 external 19" monitors to any laptop with an external monitor port.
If stability was your point then I did miss it because that's not what you said. You said R.A.I.D. 5 was needed if his information couldn't be lost. So are you saying now that SCSI drives don't fail? Or that you can't run a redundant array with anything other than SCSI drives? You also might want to point out that his motherboard doesn't have any SCSI interface, nor does it support any redundant array configuration, so he'll need a controller for that. Just my opinion.