I'm ordering a new computer from a place that's built computers for traders in the past. What do you guys wish you had addressed before buying your current computer? I've been trading for 20 years, but I don't know if there's a hamster running on a wheel inside the computer to drive the whole thing. Here's a couple of issues I've thought of when building a new computer: have all trial software and other unneccessary items removed, and have effective antivirus that's not too taxing to the CPU. I currently use Norton, and have heard it eats up a lot of CPU power. What else?
wilbur - all that 'bloatware' that you mentioned is a big thing for me. I hate computers loaded with free trials everywhere. You just know they are taking up space. As for the spec's, others more versed here will know better than me. I always go for the best of the best when building a trading computer as I just want the thing to run as smooth as possible until the next upgrade. As a business expense, I'll spend the cash on it.
I got rid of Norton years ago. Currently using AVG antivirus (free) + Windows XP firewall behind wired router. For a new rig... 1. Any of the new Core 2 Duo CPU's will be plenty... E4300, and higher. 2. XP Pro is safer bet than Vista. 3. 1GB of RAM is probably plenty. More can be added if necessary. 4. Enough of the right kinds of mobo slots to run all the monitors you want. Everything else is just bells and whistles.
Good advice !!! I'm in the market for a new computer too. Some thugs broke into my house and stole all 3 of my desktop computers and the 2 - 24 inch monitors I had recently purchased. Luckily they didn't get my laptop since I had taken it out of town with me. I'm not sure if I'll wait till after the first of the year to pick up a new one.
I would urge everyone to look at using at least 2G of memory for a trading system. Also consider getting a computer with a 10/100/1G Ethernet port, down the road 1G Eth will become common. Other considerations include plenty of USB ports, and a good quality CD/DVD burner for creating regular backups. - Greg
Backing/imaging to an external hard drive with Acronis True Image is MUCH faster and more reliable than doing so to optic media. Unless apps actually use >1G of RAM, having 2G or or more is a waste of money. Perhaps 1G Ethernet is coming, but not likely for internet. Current average broadband speed in the US is <2Mps.
I use Acronis with external hard-drives, this is why I recommended getting multiple USB ports. Acronis and most other back-up programs can target several different types of media. Keep in mind that optical media has one key advantage, most people figure this out on the day that they need to restore their computer and find out their image on their external hard-drive is corrupt and not recoverable. Fortunately those who also took periodic images on optical media walk away from the situation much less grim. The combination of most application software used on system that is focussed for trading systems exceeds the 1G boundary. Think quotes, charting, brokerage interface, etc. These programs are only going to get more memory hungry with each release, not to mention all the memory chewed up by the operating system, anti-virus, and other required software. The key reason to get an interface that supports 1G is not that the internet to your home runs at this speed, it is because the majority of better small SMB/Home routers will shortly be utilizing this interface. Moving data to other home systems or local network storage drives at much greater rates then 100M over ethernet is benefical. - Greg
gnome, I bought Dell Dimension 9200 (C2D 6600 w/ 2 gig ram) last summer and it works great for me. Now I am thinking of adding a dual DVI video card (mine now has one DVI and one VGA, so I am not too happy w/ the second monitor's resolution). I am thinking of adding a dual DVI video card to it. What I found is NVIDIA QUADRO NVS 280 DUAL DVI PCI VIDEO CARD. It should be plug and play and I can have up to 4 monitors w/ 3 set at higher resolution (I only need at most 3), right? Thanks in advance. Opra
I also have a 9200... before you add a video card, make sure it's compatible with your other. Good idea to not install more than one video driver on your machine at one time. Best thing you could do would be scrap your present video card and go NVS all the way... both cards... a 285 PCIEx16 and either 285 PCIEx1 or 280 PCI. The 285x16 cards are plentiful and cheap (used) on ebay. The others are not offered so frequently.