Running a rather old system, 5 years old, windows XP on intel core 2 duo 2.66ghz, 2gb ram Doing day trading usnig IB software only Currently system running ok, just thinking whether need to upgrade my hardware? Will buying latest hardware + windows 7 help my trading in anyway? will it be a lot faster? Though i know it depends on my internet speed, my internet provider speed remain the same though
To Trade effectively a Trader must invest in the proper tools. It is a business after all However, better tools do not necessarily make one a better trader. If you are a discretionary trader, trading 1-4 products with only a few charts open, and your system is dedicated to trading only i.e. not bloated with other software, games, etc... then I don't see how upgrading will improve your trading. If you are scanning large symbol lists, trading multiple instruments with many charts open, then upgrading may help with speed and reliability Bottom line: If you currently aren't bottlenecked... Then upgrading is a preference not a need. If your system freezes or lags... Then upgrading is recommended, it will be faster.
I have wasted a ton of dough in past on getting the fastest etc...If your trading platform/charting can only accept so much, it won't see all the bells and whistles you have on the machine. What works best is dedicated machine just for brokerage, a second machine for backup at different brokerage with different internet and using a different machine for email/games etc... Trading is like any other business, you can start cheap, but as your business expands, sky is the limit as far as expenses, just depends on the individual. It took awhile, but do find Windows 7 more stable than XP.
---It took awhile, but do find Windows 7 more stable than XP.-- what exactly did you mean by that? stability is 99% depends on what YOU doing with PC. i have plenty of PC's around running on XP and i don't remember any problems at all with OS. but those are PC's that have pretty much nothing inside. simple MB,1-2 HD's, cheap NVS card and that's about it. and 3-5 software applications. no updates,no changes(only if it was forced update). and viola-no issues with XP. that was my experience. if the parts,drivers match and work fine with OS-close it and forget it. now is you browse internet,playing games,install\uninstall software,overclock,install all updates for every piece of hardware and OS-then you better prepare yourself..
I got a nice windows 7 laptop, way faster than necessary for daytrading for $100 off ebay.. didn't agonize over the purchase like the OP is probably going to do, just try it and if I don't like it I can give it to somebody.. If he agonizes over his trades like he probably will over his computer then I say "thanks for the money!" "Have a nice day" too...
Yes, you should upgrade. I only do custom builds but I worked IT for years and it is a hobby. Cheaper and better, if you have the time and will..
If everything is performing well and if you don't have trading issues then hang in there with what works. I have i7 3.4's plus dual cores and the i7's don't do anything the old dual core 2.2 and 2.4 quads with G450's won't do just as well. Look at your resources under system manager and if everything is well resourced then forget the hype. As far helping or making you a better trader with i7's, you'll need the Intel Better Trader patch that tells you when the market will move and in which direction ahead of time. Not a lot of traders know about that one. But as far as getting a chart speed increase is concerned - forget it.
The short answer is no upgrading will not help your trading. I would say if you want to do anything then max out the RAM on your machine. Keep in mind, along with your RAM maxed out, you could probably upgrade that machine to Windows 8 SP1 when it comes out and still be fine with that hardware. Standard retail trading doesn't require a lot of CPU.
Get more RAM, 2GB is just too low these days. You will notice things will be smoother with more RAM. Your processor is probably fine, I trade in a core 2 duo slower than yours with tons of heavy software opened and only have problems in really hot summer days when the processor starts to overheat. I'm upgrading for that reason, if I lived in Canada or something I could probably do just fine with a core 2 duo